Sharing from Union
by Syugecin
Summary: PearlShipping - Sometimes it takes some events, good or bad, for someone to show how they feel. Ash and Dawn's newest adventures.
1. A Typical Evening

**Hello, this is just a short summary thing that'll help you understand what's going on in my first story before you read it. **

**This story is a PearlShipping fic that follows my version of the events roughly following DP159 (Short and to the Punch). **

**In this story, I will follow the major events from the Pokemon anime (i.e. Sinnoh Grand Festival, Ash's Sunyshore gym battle), and although the results are most likely going to be near the same as the anime, the storyline will be my own. The anime storyline will be used as merely as an outline.**

**Depending on the release date of the chapters, characters met, results of events, and Pokemon evolutions may be spoilers, so read only if you don't mind. I'll probably provide warnings at the top of the chapters though. **

**Oh yeah, and I don't own Pokemon. As if. :P**

**Enjoy! :D**

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"Alright Buizel! One more time then we're done for today. We gotta make sure we've got this one-hundred percent. Can't rely on it raining everytime buddy." Ash's voice rang out through the trees from the campground where he, Dawn, and Brock were staying.

Dawn smiled as she turned back towards the river she was retrieving water from. When the group had set up camp for the evening, Brock began to cook and Ash and Buizel continued to work on Ice Punch. Seeing everyone working made Dawn feel a little guilty, but then Brock asked her if she could get some water for the dinner. So she happily grabbed two buckets and ran off towards the river.

Dawn filled up the buckets and returned to the camp only to see Ash and Buizel standing around and still punching the air, while Pikachu and Piplup watched, bemused.

Dawn laughed and thought to herself, "_Well, he's nothing if not determined._" She went to set down the buckets of water and then walked over to Ash and said, "We all admire you and your work ethic, but what happened to 'one more'?"

Ash and Buizel both immediately stopped mid-punch and slowly turned around to face Dawn. Ash scratched his head and gave a sheepish grin. "We just want to be the best we can be, right Buizel?" asked Ash.

"Bui Bui!" said Buizel, enthusiastically. Ash grinned at the response and said, "I suppose we can stop now though."

As Ash and Buizel began to walk back towards the dinner table, Dawn said to herself, "_What a guy. He and his Pokemon sure work hard. I really ought to do some training too... My next contest is coming up soon._"

But her thoughts were interrupted when Brock called out, "Stew's almost ready guys! Come and set the table!"

"Alright! It's about time!" said Ash, throwing all of his Pokeballs into the air, "Everyone come on out! It's chow time!"

Before the Pokemon had even materialized, Ash ran over to the table, sat down, grabbed a bowl and held it out to a stunned Brock, saying, "Me first!"

"I don't think so," said Brock, as he recovered from his initial shock, while Dawn sweatdropped, "We still need to get out all the bowls and food for the Pokemon. And anyway, I said it's not ready yet."

Ash looked slightly put out, but sighed and helped Dawn to set the places for everyone.

Dawn laughed to herself, "_That is so Ash_," she thought.

Not much later, but after what seemed like an eternity to Ash, the table was set and the food was ready.

Brock dished out the stew bowls and Ash immediately dove into his, consuming it as if possessed.

As Dawn watched Ash eat, she thought, "_He looks so funny when he eats. He's such a messy eater, but he's just so cute when he eats. The way that the z's on his cheeks bounce when he chews and the way he just looks so happy, I've never seen someone look that sincere."_

Dawn watched Ash for awhile before Brock said, "Dawn, better eat up, if you don't finish yours soon, Ash might steal it!"

Dawn laughed and began eating, but Ash caught her eye again. Literally. As he attempted to scrape the final remnants off the bottom of his bowl, his hand slipped, and his spoon and bits of stew went flying onto Brock and Dawn.

Brock laughed and wiped the stew off himself with his napkin, but Dawn wasn't so lucky. A little bit of the stew flew into her eye, and as she fumbled around half-blind trying to get the stew out with her water and her napkin, she thought, "_This is all Ash's fault! Why can't he learn to eat like a normal, civilized person? If he did, none of this would have happened."_

She had just opened her mouth to yell at Ash when she felt someone touch her shoulder.

"Here, let me help," said Ash, "It is my fault after all."

After Ash brought over one of the buckets of water and helped her to wash her eye out, he said, "There, better?"

Dawn opened her eye, and felt no discomfort so she grinned and said, "Yep, all good. No need to worry! Thanks Ash."

Ash gave a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. I'm sorry, I should eat a little slower."

Dawn raised one eyebrow. "A little?" she asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey, I said I was sorry," said Ash, defensively, "And anyway, I helped clean out your eye. You should be grateful."

"Well, considering you caused the problem in the first place, I don't think you should be saying anything mister," snapped Dawn.

Brock laughed to himself as the two continued to argue. He cleared his throat loudly and said, "I'm going to put away the cooking stuff, would you two please go down to the river and wash the dishes?

Ash and Dawn stopped arguing immediately and turned towards Brock, looking a little embarrassed, as if they'd forgotten Brock was there. They both agreed, looking away from each other and shuffled off towards the river.

Brock watched them walk off. "_Those two,_"he thought, "_I wonder…_"

Ash and Dawn returned some time later, and both bade Brock good night individually, not even looking at the other. As they began to walk towards their own tents, Ash stopped and said nervously, "Uh.. Dawn?"

Dawn turned and faced him. "What?"

"Uh, good night."

Dawn gave him a small smile. "Good night Ash."

Then they both turned and walked into their own tents. Brock grinned to himself and thought, "_They never stay angry at each other long do they?_"

As Ash crawled into his sleeping bag, he yawned and said to Pikachu, "That turned out alright in the end, don't you think?"

But he didn't hear the answer and when Pikachu looked, Ash was fast asleep.

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**Apologies if this seemed a little plot deficient/short, this and maybe chapter 2 are setups for later chapters. **

**Please feel free to voice your opinions, this is my first fic, and critique/help would be nice. **


	2. Shortcut to Daybreak

**Alrighty then. This is chapter two. It's still a bit more of setup, but.. Oh well.**

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"Rise and shine Ash!" said Brock, throwing open Ash's tent flap.

"Mmffff.. Brock go away.. I'm still sleeping," muttered Ash, turning himself so that he was facing away from the bright morning light entering the tent.

"Oh come on Ash," said Brock, "The sun's been up for hours now. And anyways, breakfast is going to be ready soon."

At the mention of the word breakfast, Ash seemed to wake up a little bit, but still stayed in his sleeping bag.

"Oh fine then," said Brock, "I guess I'll have to eat all the pancakes myself then…"

The effect these words had on Ash was tremendous. He immediately jumped up, threw on his hat, pulled on his gloves, and ran for the table. Brock rolled his eyes and said, "Ash, I said they're going to be ready **soon**."

"Well, I'll be ready for them when they are," Ash said, grinning.

"Well, while you're waiting, make yourself useful. Go wake up Dawn," said Brock.

"Alrighty," said Ash, "But can't you make those pancakes hurry up?"

Brock laughed and turned back to the pancakes, which were still cooking.

Ash walked up to Dawn's tent and, feeling foolish, knocked on the closed tent flap.

There was no response.

Ash stood there awkwardly. He didn't want to just barge into the tent, that would be invading Dawn's privacy, and she might kill him for seeing her hair before she was ready. He still had marks from the last time he did that. Dawn had mercilessly whipped him with her pillow before he managed to escape. On the other hand, he **was **told by Brock to get her up for breakfast…

Ash tentatively unzipped the tent flap and poked his head inside. He saw movement and instinctively threw himself out of the tent, fearing Dawn's wrath.

He cowered there, waiting, for the blows that weren't to come. When nothing came but the sounds of happy chirping and the pattering of feet, he lifted his head up and saw Dawn's Piplup running out towards Brock and the smell of food. It turned out that Piplup wanted out, and just couldn't figure out how the tent flap worked.

Ash got to his feet and walked back to Dawn's tent and looked inside. Dawn was still sleeping, one arm out of her sleeping bag and some hair over her face. Ash smiled as he noticed that when she breathed out, the hair fluttered up and then fell back on her face. Ash brushed the hair off her face and thought to himself, "_She looks so cute like that. I'd tell her, but I don't think she'd take kindly to me complimenting her bedhead…_"

He prodded her lightly on the shoulder. "Dawn.."

"Mm.. What.." she said groggily, her eyes still blurry from sleep.

"Breakfast's almost ready," he said, grinning, "Better get up or there won't be any left for you."

"O-okay.. Thanks Ash.." she said, giving him a small smile. Then it occurred to her: "_If it's breakfast time, it must be the morning. And if I'm just waking up now, that must mean…_"

"ASH KETCHUM!" she yelled.

"Uhh.. yes Dawn?" Ash seemed startled by her sudden outburst.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? NO COMING IN MY TENT UNTIL I'VE DONE MY HAIR!"

"Oh.. yeah. Uh.." Ash quailed under the murderous look Dawn gave him, "I'll just… be going now.."

With that, Ash ran out of the tent, not stopping until he got back to Brock, who looked at him curiously. "Did you tell Dawn?"

"Y-yeah. I did. Didn't you uh… hear?"

"No, I didn't hear anything," said Brock curiously, "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh, uh, well, I'm fine," stuttered Ash, "Uh, when's breakfast?"

"It's ready now," said Brock, with an eyebrow raised. Brock's curiosity was piqued, but he decided not to say anything.

Back in Dawn's tent, Dawn was feeling a little guilty. "_Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him, that might have been a bit much… But I guess I have told him plenty of times, and it's just so fun to scare him. He looks so cute when he's scared, it just makes me want to just jump on him and hug him. Ugh, what am I thinking? I gotta get ready, Ash said breakfast will be soon._"

Dawn grabbed her cap and boots and pulled them on, checked her hair one last time, and walked over to the breakfast table.

"Hey Brock, hey Ash! Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

"Hey Dawn, you're just in time, pancakes are ready," said Brock, piling them all onto a big plate.

Ash didn't quite meet her gaze, and said nervously, "Hey Dawn.. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, no need to worry!" said Dawn brightly, Ash gave her a tentative smile.

"Okay guys, dig in!" said Brock, setting the platter of pancakes on the table. He did not appear to have heard the Dawn and Ash's conversation.

As the three ate, it was obvious that things were back to normal, conversation was made, jokes were made, and a food fight was started after Dawn flicked a piece of pancake at Ash, getting syrup all over his face. Brock just watched and laughed as the two threw food at each other until a whole pancake found its way onto his face, and he joined the fray.

After cleaning up the mess and returning their Pokemon to their Poke Balls (minus Pikachu of course), the three headed off towards Daybreak Town, the site of Dawn's next contest.

They had only been walking for ten minutes, when Ash complained, "This is taking forever.. Isn't there some faster way we could get there Brock?"

"Well," Brock checked the map, "There is a shortcut, but we'd have to cross a river."

Ash's eyes lit up. "A river? That's fine, let's go!"

Before either Dawn or Brock could say anything, Ash had run off down the path.

"Ash! Do you know where you're going?" Brock called out.

"Of course I do! I know my way aroun-" Ash was cut off as he ran right into a tree. Dawn and Brock sweatdropped.

After Brock had examined the map and chosen the route he liked to call "the right way", the group was on their way again.

As they walked, the sounds of rushing water got louder and louder until the river could be seen. The river was wide and led downstream to a waterfall that dropped far enough that the bottom couldn't be seen through the mist of water crashing to the bottom. However, the most glaring physical feature of the river were some large rocks that seemed to regulate the water flow: Upstream of the rocks, the water was calm, downstream, the current picked up and carried things to the waterfall.

"Wow," said Dawn, "It's bigger than I thought it would be. And there's no bridge or anything…" She paused. "There's not really any way to get across besides those rocks over there..."

"Well, to the rocks it is then!" said Ash, "Ready Pikachu? Here we go!"

As Ash and Pikachu ran to the rocks and began to jump across them. As Dawn and Brock ran towards the rocks, Brock said, "I guess we can cross here, but I don't think this is the greatest idea."

Dawn and Brock tentatively began stepping across the slippery rocks, when Ash called out, "Come on guys, hurry up, it's not that hard!"

To prove his point, he began crossing backwards. Somehow Dawn knew what was going to happen before it did, and as Ash took another step back, he didn't notice that the next rock was farther away and slipped off the edge and fell towards the river.

"Ash!" Dawn yelled, she grabbed onto Ash's hand, but he had the momentum and they both fell into the river.

As the current took over and Ash and Dawn were swept downriver, Ash knew that they had to grab something before they went over the edge of the waterfall.

Just as they were about to fall over the waterfall, Ash managed to grab onto the branch of a felled tree that was caught on the edge of the falls, while still holding Dawn's hand with his other hand.

"Just hold on Dawn!" Ash shouted, hoping to be heard over the rushing water.

"N-no need to worry Ash," she said, her voice shaky but confident.

But then he felt Dawn's fingers slowly begin to slip out of his. Ash looked down, to give an encouraging smile or words, but the last thing he saw was her hand slipping out of his grasp and her falling into the sheet of water below.

Ash couldn't believe it. He just let Dawn fall down the waterfall. He yelled her name, but then the branch snapped and he too fell. Ash thought "_Well this is it,_" and closed his eyes, waiting for the feeling of hitting the water below and the pain that would surely come with it.

He did feel a pain, and the sensation of falling onto something. But it was much quicker and less painful that he expected.

He took a second to orient himself and then noticed he had fallen onto a ledge beneath the waterfall. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed a prone figure nearby. "_Could it be?"_

He ran over to the fallen body, knowing in his head it must be Dawn. He crouched next to her, she wasn't moving. "No…" said Ash, tears forming in his eyes, "Dawn you've got to wake up. This can't be. This is all my fault." 


	3. Out of the Falls

**Well, here we are! Chapter 3! :)**

**Certain parts of this chapter may be confusing, I'll address certain issues at the bottom. If there's something that isn't addressed, feel free to message me or write it in the reviews.**

**This still seems to be a setup chapter as well, so for that I apologize. I promise it'll get better. xD**

**So, here's chapter 3, and the longest chapter of this fic up to now! Enjoy! :D  
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Ash lifted his arm and placed it softly on Dawn's chest as a few tears made their way down his face. As he silently pleaded for a sign that she was still with him, he noticed his hand slowly moving up and down in time with Dawn's breathing. Ash gave a sigh of relief.

"_She's still alive,_" he thought_, _"_But now what do I do? We're trapped underneath this waterfall and there's no way out!_"

Then he slapped himself. "_Get it together Ash. I've got to stay calm. I'll let Brock know how we're doing._"

Ash got up and noticed that, in his haste to check on Dawn, he had not properly examined the cavern they had landed in. The floor and walls were damp, with moss growing in randomly dispersed dark green clumps. The cavern was deep enough that Ash could not see the back in the low light conditions, and the ceiling was high enough to support a standing person, but jumping, as Ash painfully found out, was not recommended.

Ash noticed that there was some driftwood near where he had fallen, and peeled off a sheet of from the closest one . Then he walked back to where he had fallen and began to search his waterlogged backpack for something to write with.

"Extra Poke Balls…. Clothes…. Pokemon food… Fishing rod… Everything but a pen or pencil!" Ash said, disgusted. As he rezipped and shouldered his backpack his gaze travelled back to Dawn and he noticed that she still had her pack on.

"_I hope she won't mind me going through this_..." He gently lifted her arms and removed her pack. But, as he leaned over to place it on the ground, something fell out of a small pocket on his jacket, and hit the ground with a metallic clanging noise.

"What the..?" said Ash, "I haven't opened this pocket in forever. What fell out? Oh, it's the broken half of the Poke Ball that Gary and I have. Better put it back."

Ash put the half back into his pocket, and began searching through Dawn's backpack. "Clothes… More clothes… Contest stuff… Hair stuff… Poke Balls… Nothing to write with here either…"

Ash sighed and slumped to the ground, causing the Poke Ball half to fall out of his pocket again.

"Dang it. The zipper must be broken, I'll put this in another poc-" Then it dawned on him, "I don't have to write the message, I can carve it with this Poke Ball piece!"

When Ash had finished writing the message, he unclipped two Poke Balls from his belt and said, "Alright! Buizel, Staraptor! I choose you!"

Buizel and Staraptor popped out of their Poke Balls, both blinking a little more than usual due to the contrast difference from the flash of the Poke Ball release and the dark cavern. They did not appear to have noticed Dawn.

"Okay, Buizel you use Aqua Jet and go straight through that waterfall. Try to make it up the falls to the riverbank. Staraptor, use Aerial Ace to gain speed and follow right behind Buizel so that you don't get caught in the falls. Take this along with you," Ash handed Staraptor the piece of bark, "Try to find Brock. Good luck you two!"

Earlier, as he saw Ash and Dawn fall into the river, Brock had been tempted to dive in and try to save them. As he set down his backpack and prepared to just in, he realized that the current was too strong, and it would do no good for any of them to have him go down the falls with them. It would be much more beneficial to have him on land.

So Brock, Pikachu and Piplup had crossed the river and were thinking of how best to make it down to the bottom of the falls safely when they saw Staraptor and Buizel emerge from the lip of the waterfall. Buizel swam to land and Staraptor landed right next to Brock and held out one of its claws.

"Huh? Oh, you're holding something." Brock took the bark and read it.

Pikachu and Piplup waited anxiously for news of their trainers as Brock read, and when he stood up, they tugged at his pants legs.

"Oh, I get it," said Brock, "You guys are worried about your trainers. They're both fine. Dawn's unconscious," Brock winced as Piplup blanched and Pikachu patted him on the back sympathetically, "But Ash says they're both alright. He says they're trapped on a ledge underneath the waterfall. Let's go find a way to get to the bottom. We'll see what we can do from there."

As Brock got up and started walking towards the edge of the waterfall, whispering drifted out from behind a nearby bush.

"Lookie, the big twerp is all alone," Meowth said.

"Pikachu and Piplup, trainerless and ripe for the plucking!" said Jessie, rubbing her hands together enthusiastically.

"So what's the plan?" asked James, as the conversation turned back to whispers.

As Brock and the Pokemon reached the edge of the falls, he noticed that the rock face that contained the falls had several open, plateau-like surfaces that they could use to get to the bottom.

Piplup and Pikachu jumped onto Brock's shoulders and he began to slowly climb down the cliff face. As he descended from a particularly large ledge, he felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders, and he heard Buizel and Staraptor cry out in warning.

"What the-?" As Brock looked up, he saw an all too familiar, but unwelcome, sight: Pikachu and Piplup in the grasp of two robotic arms attached to the balloon of none other than Team Rocket.

"Listen, is that a solo twerp I hear?"

"He's alone alright, that much is clear."

"On the wind…"

"Past the stars!"

"In your ear!"

"Hey, giv-," Brock started, but Jessie talked right over him, "Bringing uninterrupted chaos at a breakneck pace…"

"Dashing your lines, putting ours in their place."

"A rose, by any other name, is just as sweet."

"When everything's worse, our work is complete!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Meowth, now that's a name!"

"Putting you do-gooder, in your place."

"We're Team Rocket!"

"In your face!"

Jessie said, "Now that we've got these two Pokemon, you can go on rescuing the other twerps, we don't mind! Bye!"

As the balloon started ascending, Brock hesitated, feeling a little awkward about calling moves with another trainer's Pokemon, but then yelled out, "Staraptor, use Aerial Ace on Team Rocket's balloon!"

Staraptor seemed to have the same doubts, but after a moment's hesitation, shot off towards Team Rocket's balloon, puncturing a large hole in the side.

As Meowth fumbled with the buttons on the balloon, he accidentally pressed the "release" button, and Pikachu and Piplup plummeted to earth.

Brock chucked a Poke Ball from the ledge to the ground and said, "Happiny! Catch them!"

As Happiny ran to catch Pikachu and Piplup, Brock and Buizel hopped the last of the ledges to the ground and Staraptor flew back down.

"Alright," said Brock, "I think I see the ledge. Now we just have to find a way to get Ash and Dawn down."

Back on the ledge, Ash said to himself, "You know, I could have sworn I just heard some people saying 'Team Rocket's blasting off again!'. But I might just be hearing things…"

But he was torn from his musings by a low groaning noise and the shifting of limbs. Ash turned around just as Dawn came to.

Dawn pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Ughh. My head hurts. Where are we? Where's Bro-Ah!"

She was cut off as Ash ran over and pulled her into a hug, saying, "You're alright! You're alright! You are alright, right?"

Dawn and Ash let go of each other, both blushing slightly and Dawn said, "I'm fine. No need to worry. I just have a bit of a headache. Where are we? All I remember is falling into the waterfall."

Ash started to explain, but as Dawn sat up straight, Ash noticed that, due to lying on the floor for quite some time, Dawn's hair had flattened on one side and stuck up and puffed up on the other. Ash continued his story but his grin grew big enough that Dawn noticed, and said, "What's so funny Ash?"

Ash grinned and opened his mouth to tell her what her hair looked like when Dawn sighed and said, "It's my hair isn't it."

Ash nodded, and Dawn sighed again, saying, "I guess I'll just have to fix it when we get out of here." Ash, remembering Dawn's reaction to her hair in the morning, was torn between a strange desire to laugh, and telling Dawn how bad her hair was. But he was saved when he heard Brock's voice call out, "Can you guys hear me?"

Dawn and Ash both yelled back, "Yeah!"

Brock said "I've got a plan. Staraptor is flying up with two ropes and Happiny. Try and use the ropes to get down to one of the ledges, and you can climb your way down from there."

Ash and Dawn didn't hear the specifics of Brock's plan, but, moments after he said it, Staraptor burst through the waterfall, and dropped Happiny and two ropes, and they understood the plan immediately. "Good job Staraptor," said Ash, "Now return and have a nice dry rest."

As Ash returned Staraptor to its Poke Ball, he and Happiny grabbed the two ropes and held them up in the air. Ash said, "Alright Dawn, you go first. Just keep climbing, and most importantly, don't look down."

Dawn tied the ropes around her waist and then grabbed a hold of them and headed for the edge of the cavern. When she looked out, all she could see was the ever present sheet of water. She was about to give up and jump into the waterfall when a ledge that was sharply angled but out of the deluge's way caught her eye. She jumped onto the ledge and began her slow descent down the maze of ledges. As descended, she could faintly hear Ash shouting encouragement to her, but was too scared to pay much attention. After she had climbed down a few more ledges, she thought, "_I've climbed quite awhile now, I wonder how much farther down?_"

She looked down and instantly regretted it. She was so scared she let go of the rock face and was only suspended because of the rope tied on her waist. She tried to grab the cliffside again but couldn't, and shut her eyes, too scared to move.

Ash watched as Dawn swayed from side to side, eyes closed. He shouted to her to calm down and try to grab the wall again, but she didn't appear to hear him, so he made up his mind what to do.

He pulled out another Poke Ball, tossed it into the air, and said, "Monferno, I choose you!"

Monferno popped out and jumped happily into the air, accidentally hitting its head on the low ceiling.

Ash winced and handed the Monferno the ends of the ropes. "Hold those, I'm going to climb down and help Dawn."

Ash grabbed the rope, and not noticing the ledge that Dawn had used, closed his eyes, turned his cap backwards, and jumped into the waterfall.

As Ash hit the water, the force of the water began to push him downwards at a rapid pace, until suddenly, the rope pulled taut and his fall stopped. He was still being hit by the water, but was now stable.

"_Okay, stay calm. Gotta grab onto something and get out of the waterfall."_ Ash swung himself with the ropes and managed to grab onto a small rock ledge and pull himself out of the way of the water. As he pulled himself up completely onto the ledge however, it caved under his weight and he fell towards the ground below.

By this time, Dawn had calmed down enough to grab onto and pull herself onto another ledge. As she climbed onto it and began to reorient herself, she heard Ash's yells and looked up just in time to see him falling towards the ground.

She reached out and grabbed his arm, but since Ash was falling and had the greater momentum, he pulled her off the ledge, snapping the rope holding them up, and they both began to fall towards the ground.

As they fell towards the ground, Brock grabbed a Poke Ball from his belt and threw it, saying, "Happiny! Catch them!"

Only as it hit the ground and began to roll did Brock remember Happiny was up on the ledge. He laughed nervously, and watched helplessly as Ash and Dawn headed for the ground.

Dawn had other ideas however, and pulled out a Poke Ball and threw it towards the rapidly approaching ground, saying, "Mamoswine, let's go!"

Mamoswine came out from its Poke Ball, and only had time to enjoy its surroundings for mere seconds before Ash and Dawn crashed into its back.

Ash and Dawn were slightly stunned by the impact, but otherwise unharmed. After Dawn returned Mamoswine to its Poke Ball, Ash had sent Staraptor to retrieve Monferno and Happiny, and Pikachu and Piplup had reunited with their trainers, the realization hit the two of them. They were out of the waterfall, on the other side of the river, and safe.

Both, realizing this at the same time, jumped towards each other happily and pulled the other into a big hug as Brock just watched, amused.

"By the way Dawn, that was some quick thinking, sending Mamoswine out like that to break your fall," said Brock.

"Yeah, thanks Dawn," said Ash, grinning, "You probably saved my life."

As Ash returned Monferno, Buizel, and Staraptor to their Poke Balls, and Brock recalled Happiny, a question came to him.

"Oh, and Ash, I was wondering, why did you go down the cliff without tying the rope to yourself in the first place?" asked Brock.

Ash grinned and said, "I guess I wasn't thinking. I was going to down to help Dawn."

Dawn's eyes widened. "You were going to help me? Why?"

Ash's cheeks became a little red, and he tugged on his cap to try and cover it up. "You kinda froze up and looked scared, so I wanted to help you out."

Dawn stood, motionless, for a second as Ash's words washed over her, then she grinned and ran to him and pulled him into a hug. "Oh Ash! That's so thoughtful of you!"

Brock chuckled to himself as the two embraced, but when they didn't immediately break apart, he said, "Hey, are you two ever going to let go of each other?"

They immediately broke apart and grinned sheepishly, hands behind backs, blushing furiously. Then Dawn said, a little over-exuberantly, "Well, it's off to Daybreak Town!"

With this, she ran off down the path towards Daybreak Town, Ash not too far behind. Brock, Pikachu and Piplup just stared at each other, then laughed and ran off to catch up.

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**Alright, Ash fell because he didn't tie the rope to himself, only grabbed it with his hands, and so when he grabbed the ledge, he had to let go of the rope.**

**Once again, please feel free to voice your opinions, positive, negative, or otherwise. Especially continuity errors. If a Pokemon gets sent out and isn't returned, please tell me. That's the kind of thing I have the most trouble with. **


	4. Rain Cures Anxiety

**Just when I thought chapters couldn't get any longer, here's chapter 4, which somehow tops the previous one. xD.**

**Sadly, due to events occurring in real life, I will not be able to post a chapter for about a week. I'll be writing, but the internet won't be able to take new chapters. Hopefully this will suffice for the time being. :D**

**Enjoy! :D

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Because of the delay, it was quite late before the group managed to get going again. The waterfall excursion had taken quite a chunk out of the day and they had to spend the night in a forest clearing on the way to Daybreak Town.

The next morning, when Brock got up to make breakfast, he was surprised to find Dawn already awake, with her tent packed up, and practicing contest moves and combinations with her Pokemon. "_She must be really psyched for her contest,_ _she's __**never **__awake before me._"

When Ash woke up and crawled out of his tent, he had the same reaction. "_Dawn's awake? She must be really excited for her contest. *yawn* I wonder when breakfast is…_"

After breakfast was served, Brock noticed that Dawn seemed preoccupied and wasn't eating. He nudged Ash, and pointed at Dawn. Ash raised an eyebrow, and with a mouthful of food said, "Hey, Dawn, what's wrong?"

Dawn made a face and handed Ash a napkin. Only after he had finished wiping his mouth did she say, "I'm just thinking about my next contest."

Ash swallowed and gave a big grin. "You're going to be fine! There's nothing to worry about. I've seen you practicing, you'll do great."

Dawn smiled and said, "Thanks Ash. That means a lot." She thought to herself, "_I've been telling myself that all morning. But somehow when he says it, it just sounds so much better. It just makes me feel happy and confident._"

Dawn was still lost in her thoughts however, and spilled her food or missed her mouth several times, necessitating the use of her phrase, "No need to worry!" several times as Ash and Brock asked her if there was anything wrong.

As breakfast progressed however, and Ash was still chowing down, Dawn began to get impatient and as her mind wandered, she thought of the events of the day before.

* * *

"_Oh, and Ash, I was wondering, why did you go down the cliff without tying the rope to yourself in the first place?" asked Brock._

_Ash grinned and said, "I guess I wasn't thinking. I was going to down to help Dawn." _

_Dawn's eyes widened. "You were going to help me? Why?"_

_Ash's cheeks became a little red, and he tugged on his cap to try and cover it up. "You kinda froze up and looked scared, so I wanted to help you out."_

* * *

Dawn smiled. "_I still can't believe he was thinking of me. Lyra was right. What a guy._"

As she turned back to look at Ash, and noticed he was now sitting with his Pokemon and eating while chatting with them, she thought, "_Ash is so devoted to those two things, his Pokemon and his food. If only I could be the third…"_

Dawn sighed and said to herself, "_Get a grip, you ought to be concentrating on your next contest._"

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Brock, he had finished cleaning up and Ash had finished eating. "You ready?"

Dawn said, "I've been ready!" She stood up, raised one of her hands in the air and said, "Let's go!"

As the group walked through the forest, Ash noticed a small field in a clearing and said, "It's nice and sunny there! Let's stop and rest and let our Pokemon out to play."

As he walked towards the field, Dawn grabbed his arm, and dragged him away from it. "We've got to get to Daybreak, we've been delayed enough already."

Further along the forest trail, the group met a lady who was going for a walk with her Skitty. Immediately, Brock began to profess his love to the bemused lady, but before Croagunk could relieve the lady of her troubles, Dawn grabbed Brock and dragged him off as well, saying, "We don't have time for this."

By the time they got to Daybreak, Ash offhandedly remarked that he and Brock were probably more happy to see the city than Dawn, who ignored the comment and said, "I'm off to the contest hall to register. I'll meet you at the Pokemon center."

Ash and Brock nodded and walked off to the Pokemon center, stopping for a snack along the way. As they reached the front door of the center, a freshly mown field caught his eye, and he said, "Wow, they have a pretty nice battlefield here. Maybe I can get some training in before Sunyshore, huh Brock? Uh… Brock?"

Ash looked through the glass doors of the Pokemon center and sweatdropped. Brock was on his knees expressing his love to Nurse Joy. As usual, Croagunk popped out and ended Brock's advances with a jab to the side.

Ash grabbed a hold of the door handles just in time to open them for Croagunk, who was dragging Brock away as usual.

Ash rolled his eyes and said, "Pikachu, do you know where Croagunk takes him?"

Pikachu just scratched his head. "Pika Pika…"

Ash laughed and said, "Well wherever it is, Brock always gets back fast enough."

Ash walked up to the front desk and before he could say a word, was handed a room card. "Huh?" said Ash, confused, "I didn't ask for a room yet."

Nurse Joy laughed. "Your friend did, before he got dragged out."

Ash shrugged and went to the room to check it out and claim a bed. When he returned to the lobby, Dawn and Brock were waiting for him.

"Hey Ash," said Dawn.

"Hey, you all set then?"

"Not quite, I realized I'm almost out of seals. I gotta go buy some. There's a contest shop near the Daybreak contest hall, so I thought we could make a quick stop by there. Then we can do some training!"

As they walked over to the Daybreak contest hall, the shop became quite obvious. The roof and overhang were colored with vivid blues and reds and were adorned with ribbons and balloons which swayed in the light breeze. The front door was covered in autographed pictures of former Grand Festival winners and upcoming contest advertisements.

When they entered the store, Dawn noticed some contest dresses and said to Ash, "I'm going to go look at the dresses first, but I won't be long."

Ash said, "Dawn, you already have a dress for the contest. And if you want to practice, you have to hurry before nightfall."

Dawn said, "Oh come on, we've got plenty of time!"

As Ash began to protest, Dawn flashed him a disarming smile and he faltered slightly. She enjoyed the effect she had, as his cheeks reddened slightly and he stuttered, "W-Well, don't take too long! I'll just.. Uh… Look over here."

Brock watched the scene silently and chuckled to himself as he followed Ash off towards the next aisle.

Ash walked down the aisle and began to absentmindedly pick up several fancy hats and twirl them on his fingers. He picked up a grey fedora hat and looked at it without really paying attention and he thought to himself. "_I just love it when she smiles like that. It just makes me feel like nothing can go wrong, and I get a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I swallowed too much warm soup too quickly."_

He took off his hat and replaced it with the grey fedora. He didn't notice what he had done until Brock said, "Thinking about replacing your hat with that one? It looks like the one you wore in the Wallace Cup."

Ash gave a start. "Oh, I didn't notice what I was doing." He swapped hats again. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."

Brock smiled and said, "Thinking about something?"

Ash said, "Yeah," and replaced the fedora hat back on the rack.

Brock asked, "About Dawn?"

Ash did not answer, and Brock decided not to press the issue and began to examine his PokeGear for restaurants in the area. Ash had moved to the other side of the aisle and began to look at an elaborate map of Sinnoh.

Brock pinpointed a noodle restaurant, and pulled out his backpack to find his map to mark the spot for later. But as he searched his backpack, he heard Ash's voice start speaking softly, as if he was talking to himself, but Brock could tell he was meant to hear.

"I'm worried about Dawn." Ash's voice was quiet, but Brock could hear him quite clearly.

"Why?"

"I think she's too stressed out about her contest. I know she'll win if she's relaxed, but at this rate…" Ash's voice tailed off and he clenched his fists. Brock nodded, just watching.

"I just want to do something," Ash continued, "But I'm not sure, I need to make sure she's okay."

Brock nodded again. Then something clicked in his head, and he asked, "Ash, what do you think of Dawn?"

Ash looked up, confused. He blinked a few times and said, "What? I thought I just told you."

Brock sighed. He had to write it out for Ash didn't he. "What I meant is, do you like her?"

Ash's cheeks reddened slightly, but he said, "No way! I mean she's a great friend and all.. But.."

To Brock, the denial meant nothing, Ash's blush told all. He decided to try a different tactic. "So how come she's in your dreams every night? I can hear you talking in your sleep."

Ash blanched. "How did you-I mean-No I don't!"

Brock grinned. "You've just about admitted it now."

Ash stuttered and began to walk backwards, waving his arms. "N-no I didn't! I don't know what you're talking about!"

At that moment, Dawn came running into their aisle and asked, out of breath, "Hey, have you guys seen any seal display boxes? I can't find any anywhere!"

Ash, startled by Dawn's sudden arrival, continued to back up, and crashed right into a shelf, sending its contents pouring down onto him as he slipped and fell onto the floor.

"Oh my gosh! Ash, are you alright? Here, let me help you wi-Wait. What's this?" Dawn lifted a cardboard display box off of Ash and looked inside.

"It's a box of different seals! You found it! Thanks Ash!" Dawn grinned at him, picked some out and ran off to buy them.

Ash just lay there, utterly bewildered, until Brock laughed and said, "Are you ever going to get up?"

Ash grinned sheepishly and said, "I suppose I should."

He and Brock replaced the items back on the appropriate shelves and they went up to the purchase counter of the shop and met up with Dawn just as she finished purchasing her seals.

"You ready now?" asked Ash.

"Yep! We can go train now!"

"Alrig-" Ash stopped as his stomach began to grumble. Ash scratched his head, embarrassed. "Do you think we could stop and eat first?"

Dawn laughed and looked at Brock. Brock said, "Yeah, I had found a restaurant, but if you guys want to train and eat, we can just go back to the Pokemon center."

As they began to walk back towards the Pokemon center it began to rain, and they completed the rest of the journey at a dead sprint.

While Dawn and Brock settled down to enjoy a warm meal out of the rain, Ash quickly downed his plate and began to head for the Pokemon center front doors.

"Ash? Where are you going?" Dawn called out.

Ash turned around with an inspired smile on his face. "You don't get rain everyday! It's perfect for special training. You can't be prepared for enough!" With this, he turned and ran out towards the Pokemon center practice field.

Dawn rolled her eyes, but allowed herself a small smile. "_He is so dedicated. What a guy. I think after I finish, I'll have to go out and join him. That kind of enthusiasm is just contagious._"

Brock's voice cut into her thoughts. "That is so Ash. He'd train in a tornado if it meant getting an edge in his next battle."

Dawn laughed and said, "Has he always been like that? That dedicated?"

Brock said, "Ever since I met him. He's all about getting his gym badges and getting better and trying to become the Pokemon master."

Dawn smiled. "That's pretty amazing." She paused. "**He's** pretty amazing."

Brock said nothing, but a grin tugged at the edges of his mouth.

Dawn looked up at him. "What's so funny?"

Brock laughed and said, "Oh, nothing."

Dawn shrugged and after one last glance at Ash through the window, she turned back to her plate and continued eating. Brock just watched, thinking. "_That's as good as a confession too. If only they both knew._"

When Dawn finished, she looked up at Brock and said, "I'm going to go join Ash and train too. Okay Brock? Uh, Brock?"

She waved her hand in front of his face and snapped him out of his reverie. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to go train with Ash, alright?"

Brock nodded and said, "I'll be in here if you guys need me. Have fun!"

Dawn nodded and ran out into the rain. She could hear Ash's voice carrying over the sound of the rain. "Alright guys, race you to the other end of the field!"

She walked onto the field and noticed that Ash had let out all of his Pokemon and they were all running around on the waterlogged field, looking like they were having the time of their lives.

Buizel won the race easily, but then Ash slipped and slid into him tripping Grotle in the process. Grotle fell onto them both and then Monferno, Pikachu, and Staraptor jumped on top. They stayed in this awkward position for a few seconds, then all sat up and started laughing together. Dawn couldn't help laughing too, and Ash noticed her.

He got up and walked over as Piplup ran over to join Ash's Pokemon. "Hey Dawn. What's up?"

She couldn't help staring at his appearance. His shirt and pants were streaked with mud from his slide, and he was drenched from head to toe. His hat sat on his head, lopsided and grimy and the whole façade was topped off by his grin. Despite the weather and the condition of his clothes, he looked as happy as a kid with a new toy.

Ash's smile changed to a worried look as he noticed Dawn was still looking straight at him. "Dawn? Something wrong?"

She hastily grinned. "Oh, no."

Ash looked relieved. "That's good. Why'd you come out here?"

Dawn said, "Well, I came out to train with you. That**is **what you're doing right?" Her gaze wandered over to Ash's Pokemon and Piplup, who were splashing each other with water and throwing mud.

Ash scratched his head. "Well, we were. We're just having fun playing now."

Dawn just laughed. Ash grinned too, and tilted his head towards the Pokemon, saying, "Well, shall we join them?"

"Alright! Everyone, come on out!" Dawn threw her Poke Balls into the air and she and her Pokemon ran off to join the others.

Brock just watched the two from the Pokemon center and laughed to himself.

When Ash and Dawn didn't come in, and Brock was finished eating, he returned to the room and watched some contest battles on the TV.

He was just about to use the restroom to wash up before going to sleep when Dawn and Ash finally came in. His mouth dropped slightly. They were both sopping wet and dripping water all over the floor. Following them were a mud-covered and soaked Pikachu and Piplup. All four of them had an exhausted but pleased look on their faces.

"Hey Brock," said Ash, grinning when he noticed Brock's expression. "What's up?"

Brock rolled his eyes. "I've been watching TV and waiting for you two. Did you have fun?"

"You bet!" said Dawn, "I gotta clean up now though. I bet my hair looks absolutely horrible. Ash, mind if I use the shower before you?"

Ash laughed. "Not at all."

He and Pikachu grabbed towels and began to dry themselves off as Dawn went into the bathroom. She quickly extricated herself from her grimy clothes and jumped into the shower, enjoying the warm water. As she just stood there, letting the water run over her, her mind wandered. "_Who knew running around in the rain and mud could be that much fun? I had a great time with Ash. I just get this strange feeling in my stomach when he's around. He can make anything fun. I even forgot to worry about my contest."_

As Dawn continued to ponder, Ash listened to the running water and became conscious that his head was wet. He pulled off his hat and looked at it. It was stained in several places with mud and still slightly damp. Ash laughed and asked Brock, "Does the rest of me look as bad as my hat?"

"Pretty much. When you go to take your shower, just look in the mirror. That should answer your question. I'm going to go to sleep now. Good night Ash."

Ash bade Brock good night and waited. When Dawn finally came out of the bathroom, Ash raised his hands in mock celebration and said, "Took you long enough."

Dawn started to say something but decided it wasn't worth it and just merely glared. Ash walked into the bathroom and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He grinned as he saw what Brock was talking about then took off his dirty clothes and got into the shower. He too, reflected back on the evening. "_I wonder if I should just tell Dawn what I think..."_

When Ash finished, he changed into clean clothes and walked back into the room. Brock was sound asleep, but he noticed Dawn wasn't in her bed. His gaze drifted to the balcony of the room, and he noticed Dawn was sitting outside looking up at the sky.

He walked out to the balcony and sat down beside her. She shifted slightly but otherwise did not acknowledge him. Together they sat in silence, under the blanket of the night sky. Ash turned to look at Dawn, and noticed that the moonlight framed her face and seemed to make it glow. He had never truly realized or appreciated until that moment, Dawn's appearance. "_She's very pretty,_" He thought.

Suddenly, Dawn said, "Ash?"

He jumped slightly, her voice had sounded a bit louder than usual and had broken into his thoughts. "Yes Dawn?"

"I'm worried about the contest. I know I've prepared, but it's always a lot scarier going out there than the time before, and-"

Ash put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. Dawn calmed down slightly but still looked stressed out.

Ash turned to look at her. "Dawn, you've practiced your combinations a ton, and they're all great. You've just got to trust yourself, and your Pokemon. We'll be rooting for you. There's no need to worry. You'll do great, as always."

Dawn smiled and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "Thanks Ash. That means a lot to me."

Ash flinched slightly, but stayed put, and the two of them watched the stars together.

They stayed in this position for several minutes before Ash said, "Okay, it's really late Dawn. We should be getting back inside."

When there was no answer, he turned and noticed Dawn had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled and slowly shifted Dawn to a sitting position. Then he stood up, put one arm under her legs and one under her neck and carried her, bridal style, back to her bed.

Accomplishing this, he climbed into his own bed and fell asleep, dreaming about only the things Brock guessed, back in the contest shop.

**

* * *

I just realized this is the first chapter where the characters may be OoC, so I apologize for that.**

**Again, please review, it's always nice to know how I'm doing.**

**Cheers.**

**smalledit[9/3]: Changed Infernape to Monferno for continuity purposes.  
**


	5. Flying, FlameIce, and Failures

**Blah! This took an awfully long time. Dx. If anyone was waiting for this, I apologize, I was away. Dx.**

**This chapter is written in a sort of different style than my other ones. Being away probably did that. If you notice, please point it out. If not, still point it out. xD. It might just be me being self-conscious. To name a few things, there are a lot more attempts at humor in this chapter and there is also a ridiculous amount of detail, which might be annoying. Again, if you notice anything, point it out. It'll help me improve for chapter 6.  
**

**This is also a lot shorter than the previous chapter, and it cuts off a bit early, but that's to set up for the next chapter.**

**As DP162 has come out now, the English speakers know what happens in the Daybreak contest, so I won't go into too much detail with it.**

**Notice the irony in the first sentence "The sun rose over Daybreak Town." ... Dx  
**

**Well anyway, here's chapter 5! Enjoy.  
**

* * *

As the sun began to rise over Daybreak Town, the early morning rays entered through the slits in the curtains and shone directly onto Dawn's face. She blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden bright light and became aware of two scribbled notes hanging from the bunk above. She stared at these for a few seconds, noticing Ash and Brock's signatures at the bottom of the notes, but not reading the text. "_Whatever it is, it can wait. I want to sleep some more."_

She turned over to escape the sun and closed her eyes, but the notes had caught her interest and piqued her curiosity, and she couldn't help but thinking of them.

"_What if they went somewhere? It could be important… Oh well. I think I'll just.." _

Then she noticed that Piplup was not in her bed, or anywhere near it. "Ahh! Where's Piplup?"

She shot up to a sitting position. She looked at the first note, Brock's, which was written meticulously, almost as if it had been typed; all of the letters were of a uniform size.

"Dawn, we're at breakfast.

Ash got hungry. I'm sure that doesn't surprise you.

We have Piplup with us.

Come down whenever you're ready."

Dawn sighed with relief. At least Piplup hadn't been distracted by another Butterfree or floating dandelion seed again. She shuddered, remembering what happened the last time Piplup's ADD tendencies took over.

Then she looked at Ash's note. It looked like the first writing attempts of a three-year old. The letters were jumbled together, there were very few spaces between the words, things were misspelled, and there were smudges all over the paper. It took Dawn several tries to decipher it. "_Something like a Ketchum Rosetta Stone would be nice…" _she thought.

"Brock prolly told ya but were eatin nao."

Dawn sighed. "Doesn't waste a bit of paper does he…"

She climbed out of her bed and began her morning routine. After a quick cursory glance for Conway, a practice she had gotten into after he had almost barged in on her shower at the summer school, she began to change into her normal attire. Once she had all her clothes on, she walked into the bathroom and carefully brushed and combed her hair until she found it satisfactory. Then she put on her gold hair clips, performed one last check, pulled on her beanie, and walked out the door towards the dining room.

When she got there, she spotted Ash and Brock immediately. With them were Pikachu, Piplup, and a small army of finished plates of food, all on Ash's side of the table. Brock seemed to have dozed off, but Dawn couldn't tell if his eyes were actually closed or not.

As Dawn approached the table, Ash looked up from his most recent platter of pancakes and said, "Hey Dawn! Good morning!"

Dawn was half-startled, half-flattered that Ash actually looked up from his food to say hello. "Hey Ash, hey Brock."

Brock gave a start and turned his head. Noticing Dawn, he let out a small yawn, and said, "Hey Dawn, did you get our notes?"

Dawn sat down next to Ash. "Yeah, but there was only one note. The other paper was more like graffiti."

Brock laughed, and Ash grinned sheepishly. "Hey, we were in a hurry, and it was dark. Anyway, you could understand it, right?"

Dawn nodded, and Ash said, "Then that's all that was needed," and resumed his assault on the food items on his plate.

Dawn shook her head and looked at Brock. "It was dark?"

Brock yawned again. "Yeah, we had a pretty early start today."

Ash frowned through his mouthful of pancake and egg and said defensively, "I wuth hungwee"

Dawn rolled her eyes and shared a look with Brock, both thinking the same thing. "_He's hopeless._"

She got up was about to get a bite for breakfast when she noticed a TV set in the middle of the dining area.

It was broadcasting Sinnoh Now's live coverage of the pre-contest preparations at the Daybreak contest hall. She almost did a double-take. "_I almost forgot about the contest with all the stuff recently… I gotta make sure my contest combinations are all set and practice some more."_

She sunk back into her seat, her hunger replaced by the dull pain of anxiety.

She looked from Brock, who had finished his breakfast and was going from table to table hitting on random women, to Ash, who was engaged in a food fight with Piplup and Pikachu, with bits of pancake and syrup flying everywhere.

She flicked a piece of pancake off her shoulder and said to herself. "_I really just have to figure out how to calm down and relax. Ash and Brock have got it down. Then again, their fifth ribbon isn't on the line. I wonder how Ash prepares for gym battles…"_

After finishing breakfast, Ash and Dawn walked out to a park in the middle of Daybreak, leaving Brock to his fruitless love search. Ash had acquired a kite and had let Staraptor out, and the two of them were engaged in a strange game of fetch in which Staraptor would start on Ash's shoulder and attempt to tag the flag through the changing wind currents. At one point, Staraptor came down and Pikachu jumped on his back, and occasionally the kite was hit by a well aimed Thunderbolt or Iron Tail. It turned out that the game was a form of training, but as Dawn noted, as she watched the three run into trees, trip over benches and dodge passerby, always ending up laughing together, it seemed to be fun as well.

Dawn was sitting on a wooden bench with Piplup, watching. She had tried to train, but couldn't think of anything and decided to just watch Ash instead, hoping for inspiration. As she watched them, she thought, "_I always thought training was supposed to be a boring, but necessary task. Ash has a great gift of making anything fun and enjoyable." _She looked down at Piplup, who was watching Pikachu with an almost longing look. "_I have to figure out how to do that. It would make everything easier, and my Pokemon would be happier._"

She noticed Ash walking over. Ash seemed to notice Piplup's look. "Hey, want to go up there too?"

Staraptor landed on Ash's shoulder and looked at Piplup expectantly. Piplup looked up at Dawn for approval. Dawn smiled and nodded. "Go ahead. You could use a break."

Piplup jumped happily onto Staraptor and he took off carrying Piplup and Pikachu, going into aerial loops and twirls. Dawn could hear the happy squeals from both Pokemon from the ground, and even Staraptor was having fun. Dawn watched in horror as he went into a barrel roll, sending his two passengers plummeting towards the ground, but caught them again with inches to spare.

Ash sat down on the bench next to Dawn and leaned back, with a big grin on his face. Dawn couldn't help smiling too; Ash seemed so happy and carefree.

Her gaze drifted to the Pokemon center, where she could see people still eating through the windows. Her attention shifted to the front door, where she saw a Croagunk walking out, dragging behind an unusually large package. Then she looked into the streets and around the park, where there were people running around, chatting, enjoying life. The sun disappeared under a cloud, but still the people went on, having fun.

She sighed. "_I don't know why I worry like this before a contest. I've won four ribbons, I know I can do it. I bet Zoey doesn't get like this. I've seen the combinations work and I still worry. I should just relax and hope for the best, but that's hard._"

"I don't get it!" she yelled. Ash jumped and gave Dawn a concerned look. "Everything alright?"

"Oh, of course! No need to worry." Dawn said quickly, embarrassed that she had said that out loud.

She turned back around, but before she could get lost in her own thoughts and self-doubt again, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ash looked her right in the eyes. "Something's wrong. Are you still worried about your contest?"

As she looked into Ash's eyes, Dawn felt an strong urge to pull him into a hug and explain all of her problems in great detail and how that, along with her feelings for him, added up to a rather unpleasant list of things to be worried about.

Ash, on the other hand, was wondering what could be so worrying that it was possibly taking Dawn so long to answer his question, and wondering how angry she'd get if he pointed out that the wind had messed up her hair.

They stared at each other, both feeling increasingly awkward, neither wanting to say anything. Ash's eyes began to travel over Dawn's face. Dawn eyes followed his, confused. At this time, the sun chose to peek out from behind the clouds, and the sudden light caused Dawn to blink. After her eyes adjusted, she noticed Ash was still staring at her intently.

She inclined her head slightly, but Ash didn't seem to notice. The sunlight caused the blue of Dawn's hair and eyes to kind of blend and shine together. Ash glanced again at Dawn's hair, some of which had come loose from one its clips and pushed her beanie up, making it lay lopsided, like Ash's own cap. He tentatively reached out, and when Dawn didn't bite his hand off, attempted to softly push it back into the clip.

Dawn flinched slightly when Ash first reached out, but more from surprise after the long period of inaction than fear. She felt Ash gently push the side of her head, wondering what he was doing, but her question was answered as she felt her hair brushing against her face. He was obviously doing something to her hair.

Ash attempted to coax the hair back into its clip, but quickly grew annoyed as it sprung back out again and again. He pushed on it a little harder, but pushed a little too hard and Dawn fell off the bench. She picked herself up, annoyed, but also slightly amused. All of her hair had come loose from its clips in the fall. Ash jumped over to her, extending a hand, red-faced.

"I'm sorry Dawn! Are you okay? I just wanted to help! It was sticking out and I just wanted to put it back in for you, and-"

Dawn smiled. "It's alright Ash. It's the thought that counts."

She accepted his hand and pulled herself back up to a sitting position on the bench. Then she reached up and pushed her hair back into the clips. Ash seemed a little relieved, but when Dawn looked over at him, he was looking down at his feet, fidgeting nervously. Dawn watched him, thinking, "_That was unexpectedly sweet of him. Although he may not be my first choice of hair stylist…"_

Ash shifted nervously, waiting for Dawn to say something, but was saved as Staraptor landed on the bench, and Piplup and Pikachu clambered down.

"Hey guys! Have a good flight?"

The two of them jumped happily and nodded.

Ash looked at Staraptor, who was pretty wiped after the training and the flying. He returned him to his Poke Ball. "Have a nice rest, great job today."

Piplup hoped over towards Dawn, who got up. Ash flinched. Dawn double-checked her hair, and then said, "I'm going to practice some combinations one more time, want to come join me?"

Ash was startled, but said, "Uhh… Yeah! S-Sure. Okay."

He followed Dawn to the small field near the Pokemon center. Ash surveyed the field, which was still damp from the night's rain. "Have we been here before?"

Dawn laughed. "We were out here last night." She tossed two Poke Balls into the air. "Mamoswine, Cyndaquil, come on out!"

Ash sat down on the field with Pikachu and Piplup, to watch Dawn's training. Dawn said, "Okay, we're going to practice Flame-Ice some more."

Cyndaquil and Mamoswine nodded. Dawn put her head down, then said, "Cyndaquil! Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil jumped onto one of Mamoswine's tusks and slip up to its head. Then it jumped and shot fire from its mouth and back to create a spinning ball of flame. Cyndaquil stayed suspended in the air, the continuously circulating fire providing lift.

Dawn let the flames intensify for a little while, then pointed towards the sky and said, "Mamoswine! Ice Shard!"

Ash remarked, "That's new. Last time they did it on the ground."

Mamoswine formed a constantly rotating ball of ice in front of it. This grew slowly with every rotation before Dawn said, "Up!" and Mamoswine threw the ball up towards the still spinning Cyndaquil.

Ash watched, wondering what Dawn was planning. "That's new too, last time Mamoswine had to smash the ice up into smaller pieces."

The Ice Shard crashed into the Flame Wheel, creating smoke and hiding Cyndaquil from view. When the smoke cleared, Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel was still rotating, but had a rotating ring of ice chunks surrounding it.

Dawn did a sort of half-pirouette and said, "Okay Mamoswine, now send another Ice Shard up there!"

Mamoswine quickly created and threw another ball of ice, which combined with the already existing pieces to create a sort of sealed, diamond-shaped chamber surrounding the Flame Wheel. As the flame rotated, the light shone through the facets of the ice seal creating a shining light.

Ash jumped up. "That's great! It worked!" Pikachu and Piplup both raised their paws and flippers and cheered.

Dawn wasn't finished yet though. She said, "Cyndaquil, take it to the ground."

Ash watched it descend. "Wow, that's pretty awesome. It catches the light as it turns." He noticed Piplup and Pikachu quickly hurrying away. "Hey guys, what's wrong?"

He looked up, and quickly found out what. The Flame-Ice was on a collision course for him. He only had time to think one thing before it was upon him. "_Oh boy…_"

When the smoke and dust and dirt from the collision had settled, Ash was lying on the ground, with swirls in his eyes, with a confused Cyndaquil sitting on his stomach.

Dawn, Pikachu, and Piplup ran over, Dawn recalling Cyndaquil and Mamoswine to their Poke Balls as she ran. "Ash! Are you alright?"

She held out her hand to held him. He reached out his arm but instead of grabbing her hand, he made a movement as if to take something from her hand, and brought his hand to his mouth. He stuttered weakly, "A s-sandwich…? For m-me? How nice…"

Then he put the "sandwich" into his mouth and bit down on his hand, hard. "OW!"

Despite the situation, Dawn couldn't help giggling a little as Ash sat upright and said, to no one in particular, "Whoa, what happened?"

He looked around quickly, before his eyes came to rest on Dawn. "AHHH! Where did you come from?"

Dawn laughed again. "Ash, we've been out here, you just got hit by the Flame-Ice."

Ash scratched his head, everything coming back. "Oh yeah."

He paused, then grinned. "That should leave a mark."

Dawn reddened. "Yeah.. Sorry Ash."

Ash grinned again. "It's fine, it's payback for what I did to your hair," Dawn held out a hand to help him up. "Anyways, it looked nice. It'll be great for your contest. You'll win for sure!"

Dawn opened her mouth to say something when a voice drifted to them from the other side of the field. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Dawn and Ash both turned to the source of the new voice, still holding hands. "Ursula!"

* * *

**Like I said, I probably won't go into too much detail about the contest, seeing as you can watch it, but I'll probably write it to suit me. **

**As always, please feel free to read and give your thoughts. They're appreciated. :)  
**

**Oh, and a reviewer pointed out last chapter that this story is a very cliche storyline. I totally agree, but for my first story, I thought it wouldn't be too shameful if I stuck to something tried and true, and hopefully my writing can make up for the commonness of the story! :D**

**It's kind of sad how much longer these look in my notebooks and in Word... Dx**

**(Oh, and thanks to Dammie, who discouraged me from blowing myself up while writing this. Dx)**

**A word from Ash: "You don't need Icy-Hots or heat/freeze compression packs anymore, just get a crazy friend who practices contest combinations on you.**

**Dawn: That was an accident... This isn't. *slap***

**Cheers!**


	6. Old Memories, New Tricks

**Well, sorry for the delay. Here is chapter 6. :3.**

**This chapter is largely based off of DP161 (Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn), which has now aired in the English dub. For that reason, I have omitted certain things in this story, or summarized them, to not spoil them for people who haven't watched the episode, and to reduce boredom. If you've watched the episode already, you don't need to read about it again, that'd be boring.  
**

**So, what I attempted to do in this chapter is build more on the emotional aspect of it, and the parts that the episode doesn't go into detail about. **

**Enjoy! :)  
**

* * *

The peach-haired coordinator grinned arrogantly. "That's right."

She inclined her head, looking at Dawn. "I saw your combination. You can't be here for the Daybreak contest, can you?"

Dawn said, "Yeah, I am. Are you?"

Ursula nodded, then tilted her head to the other side and put her opposite hand on her hip. "How many ribbons do **you** have?"

Dawn let go of Ash's hand, and pumped her fists enthusiastically. "I'm going for my fifth!"

Ursula smiled complacently. "Me too."

Something tugged at the bottom of Ursula's dress, catching her attention. "Huh?"

Dawn paled. Ursula picked up two Pokemon from the ground, a Plusle and a Minun, which squealed happily. "These are my two new Pokemon, we've been working on a new combination too!"

Dawn took a step back, nearly tripping over Piplup. She began to wave her hands in front of her face. "No, no, no! Anything but those two."

One of Ursula's eyebrows rose. "What?"

Dawn took a few more steps back, then closed her eyes and shielded her face, as if shielding herself from an intense light. "Please! Not Plusle and Minun."

Ursula's eyebrow rose even further, threatening to escape into her hair. "What's wrong with them?"

Ash was just as confused as Ursula looked. "Dawn, you surely must have seen them before, they're not scary."

Dawn backed up more, then tripped and fell onto her back. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and covered her face again. "I j-just, don't like them. Please!"

Ursula put both her hands on her hips, her Pokemon mirroring her actions. "Well, that's not very nice is it? You're going to hurt their feelings!"

Dawn lowered her hands slowly and looked down at her feet. "Sorry..."

Ursula brightened. "How about we show you one of our new combinations?"

Just then, Ash felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around.

"Oh, hey Brock. Where've you been?"

Brock grinned. "I've been helping Nurse Joy. I came out to figure out where you guys were."

He looked at Dawn and frowned. "What's wrong with Dawn?"

Ash looked back over at Dawn. She had since closed her eyes and had a resigned look on her face, as if accepting some unpleasant fate. Plusle and Minun were running in circles around her, holding electric pom-poms, and being directed by Ursula.

"And… finish!" Ursula waved her arms in a circle, then with a final flourish, pointed at Dawn.

Plusle and Minun released the energy stored in the electric pom poms and there was a flash of light, then Dawn became obscured by a large cloud of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Dawn's hair was puffed up and covered with shiny remnants of the pom poms, causing her hair to look as if someone had showered glitter into it. Plusle and Minun ran back to Ursula and jumped on her shoulders.

Dawn seemed stunned. She opened her eyes and nervously felt her hair.

Ash grinned. "Your hair's all shiny! It's like… A diamond!"

Dawn's eyes grew wide. "A diamond…? G-great…"

Then she fell backwards onto the ground, unmoving.

Ash, Brock and Ursula stared at Dawn's prone figure, open-mouthed. Then, as Ash and Brock ran to Dawn to see what had happened. Ursula giggled and said, "Well, tell Dawn I'll see her later. Bye!" With this, she turned and walked away.

Ash looked at Dawn worriedly. "Brock? What should we do?"

"We should take her to the Pokemon center. I'll get something set up. You should get her something to drink." Brock turned and walked back towards the Pokemon center.

Ash rolled his eyes. "_As if. He'll forget as soon as he walks in the door._"

He looked at Dawn again. "_I guess I'll have to carry her to the Pokemon center._"

"Hey, Pikachu, Piplup," They looked up. "Could you meet me in the Pokemon center with some wet towels?"

They nodded, and scurried off.

Ash looked down at Dawn. Despite having passed out roughly onto the ground, she seemed remarkably peaceful. He crouched down on one knee to pick her up, but when he lowered his knee onto the ground, his knee hit something hard.

"Wha?" Ash straightened and looked down. A Poke Ball was lying on the ground. He picked it up and examined it. "It looks like Brock's. I'll bet he dropped it."

Ash pocketed it and turned back to Dawn. He crouched there for a bit, pondering how best to move Dawn. "_I guess it's just like last night." _He shook his head. "_Why don't I ever get to do this while she's awake?_"

He put an arm under her upper back and another behind her knees and picked her up. After slowly regaining a standing position, he began his slow walk back to the Pokemon center.

It took awhile, with Ash being extra cautious as to not trip and drop Dawn, but he eventually made it. When he entered the Pokemon Center, neither Nurse Joy nor Brock were in sight. Ash sighed, and walked into the waiting area. He noticed that Piplup and Pikachu had set up a small bed by pulling some chairs together and laying blankets on them. They were sitting on a bench nearby with a stack of towels.

Ash set Dawn down and said, "Thanks guys. You were great."

He sat next to Dawn and realizing she'd probably have a fit about her hair when she came to, gently ran his fingers through her hair and managed to make it lay flat, or at least, stopped it from sticking up. Then he grabbed one of the wet towels that they had gathered and was about to lay it on Dawn's forehead when he heard a familiar voice.

Ash turned and sweatdropped. Brock had managed to corner a woman and was in the process of declaring his true, undying, and boundless love for her. Ash watched for a while, somewhat amused, before he realized what was wrong. "_Where's Croagunk?_"

He laid the towel on Dawn's forehead and then realized. "_I must have Croagunk's Poke Ball…"_

He pulled the Poke Ball out of his pocket and threw it towards Brock.

Croagunk popped out of the Poke Ball and immediately halted Brock's advances with a Poison Jab to the side.

Ash watched as Brock was dragged out, then turned back to Dawn. Piplup was sitting next to her, shaking her arm slightly.

Ash smiled, watching, before remembering what Brock had said. "_I suppose I should get her something to drink now…_"

He turned back towards Dawn, and feeling a little reckless, but confident, planted a light kiss on her cheek and wandered into the cafeteria, thinking of what his mom had done when he was younger and sick. He returned to the waiting area with a mug of warm milk, and noticed Brock was there. He gave an approving nod toward the mug and said, "How's Dawn been?"

Ash sighed. "She hasn't moved a bit."

Ash set down the mug and sat down. Piplup was still attempting to wake Dawn up. Ash and Brock sat in silence for some time, just watching Dawn, before Ash remembered something. "Oh Brock, here's Croagunk's Poke Ball."

"Thanks." Brock returned Croagunk, who was staring at his reflection in a window of the Pokemon center, and clipped the Poke Ball back to his belt.

Ash continued to just stare at Dawn as Piplup shook her. "_She looks so peaceful. It's like she's sleeping._"

Ash leaned down and gently brushed some of Dawn's hair off of her face. As he sat back, Dawn suddenly twitched and opened her eyes. Ash didn't seem to notice, still thinking to himself. "_Her eyes are so blue. I don't know why it took me so long to notice how pretty she is."_

Then it occurred to him. "_Wait, her eyes?"_

Dawn slowly shifted herself to a sitting position, then yelped and felt her hair. Seeing that it was now lying somewhat flat, she sighed with relief and said, "Hey Ash, Brock."

Ash grinned. Brock said, "Hey Dawn, feeling better?"

Dawn nodded. Ash grinned again and held out the mug to her. "Here! I brought you some hot milk!"

Dawn accepted it. "Ohh. Thank you Ash."

She took a sip and then smiled at Ash. "Wow! That was really thoughtful of you!"

Ash grinned and scratched his head. "Thanks. But it was Brock's idea."

Brock laughed and said, "I figured if you drank something warm, you'd calm down."

Dawn smiled, and opened her mouth to say something before she felt something tug on her arm.

"Piip Pip Lup?" Piplup was staring at her worriedly.

Dawn patted him on the head. "No need to worry! I'm fine, really!"

She turned back to Ash and Brock. Ash said, "Dawn? What happened to you out there?"

Brock nodded and said solemnly, "It was weird the way you reacted to Plusle and Minun. You were freaked!"

Dawn sighed and looked down at her boots, fidgeting slightly. "I know…"

Brock looked thoughtful, then said, "Something must have happened before."

There was a small period of silence, then Ash grinned and said, "I know! You must have tried to catch Plusle and Minun before, but couldn't! Right?"

Dawn shook her head slightly and said, "Not right…" Then she resumed fidgeting and looking at her feet.

Ash's voice softened. "What's wrong Dawn?"

Dawn looked up. Looking into his eyes, she noticed for the first time that they weren't black, as she had originally thought, they were a light shade of brown, and were shining with concern.

Brock spoke up. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to…"

Dawn took a deep breath, as if steadying herself, and then said, "I was going to tell you one day, so why not now?"

She squeezed her eyes shut as she dragged out her painful memories that she had tried to hide and forget.

"It happened when I was in Kindergarten…"

Ash and Brock listened as Dawn explained the story. In her Kindergarten class, she had been assigned, with two other classmates, to take care of the class' Plusle and Minun. However, one day she had to bring them to their play pen and when she chased and caught them, they electrocuted her, causing her hair to stick up like earlier, and sparkle. Her classmates dubbed her "Diamond Dandruff", or "Dee Dee", and the shame of being laughed by the entire class stung even after all of those years passed.

"Yeah…" Dawn finished with a sigh. It was hard to relive and remember the old memories, and feel the hurt and embarrassment again, but she was kind of glad that she got it off her back and told her friends.

Ash shrugged one shoulder. "So the reason you got that nickname is because of Plusle and Minun? Wow."

Dawn sighed again. "And I could never figure out why they would do such an awful thing like that…"

Ash and Brock looked at each other, then Ash began to laugh, with Pikachu and Piplup joining in. Brock had the sense of mind not to laugh, but could not repress a smile.

Dawn looked up from her boots and noticed the group's mirth. She glared at them and yelled, "ALRIGHT YOU GUYS. WHAT IS SO FUNNY?"

Ash grinned and held up his hands in self-defense. "I'm sorry Dawn! But the thing that's funny? It's you!"

Brock, noticing the murderous glare Dawn was giving Ash, decided to bail him out. He cleared his throat quickly and said, "A Pokemon would never attack unless they were provoked first."

Dawn's glare lingered on Ash for a second longer, then she turned to Brock and said, "Huh?"

Ash was relieved, he swore she would've burned a hole right through him. He said, tentatively, "Dawn?" He took it as an encouraging sign that when she turned to look at him again, she was no longer glaring. "The reason Plusle and Minun zapped you? It's because you were chasing after them."

Dawn's eyes widened. "Wow, it was my fault? I never thought of that."

Ash smiled and said, "Hey Dawn, no need to worry."

Brock nodded. "Ash is right. It was a big deal for you then. But if you look at it now? It's not really that big of a deal."

Dawn looked at her feet again. "I guess so…"

Ash gave a big grin, raised a fist, and said confidently, "So! Wipe out Ursula in tomorrow's contest, and you'll wipe out those bad memories too!"

Brock mirrored him, and said, emphatically, "Ash is right. This is the perfect opportunity to free you from the past!"

Dawn raised one eyebrow. "Whoa… No need to be too dramatic Brock."

She paused.

"But you're both right! I'll do it! Thanks!"

Brock laughed and said, "I'll be in the room. I'm going to put my stuff away."

With this, he turned and left. Ash turned back to Dawn and grinned. "You'll do great Dawn! No need to worry right?"

Dawn smiled. Even if she didn't say it, she was always pleasantly surprised and flattered when Ash used her catchphrase. "Right!"

They sat there together for awhile, and then Ash said, "Ready for the contest Dawn?"

"You bet!"

Ash grinned, stood up, and said, "Well, let's go get Brock then!"

When Dawn didn't respond, Ash sat back down, next to Dawn, and said, "Everything alright?"

Dawn looked at him, and said quietly, "Ash?"

"Yes Dawn?"

"Thanks. It means a lot." She felt a sudden rush of confidence, and wrapped one arm around his shoulder, pulling him into a hug. Ash blushed and weakly patted her on the back with one arm.

"Y-You're welcome Dawn."

Dawn let go of Ash and ran off to the room to grab her contest things and to hide her blush. Ash just sat, somewhat bemused, his head spinning. "_Dawn just hugged me. Wow._"

He slowly stood up, shook his head, then walked off back to the room.

If he had stayed just a little longer, he would have heard the giggles that were coming from behind a nearby pole.

Ursula slumped to the ground, laughing so hard she could hardly speak. "Dee-Dee? That, That's… That's hilarious!"

She calmed down slightly, and rubbed her hands together. "Perhaps I can use that, and maybe Ash against her. She **does **seem to like him…"

She walked off, chuckling, as Ash, Dawn, and Brock re-entered the Pokemon center lobby, and Brock ran over to Nurse Joy.

Although the contest hall was a mere three blocks away from the Pokemon center, it took the group an excessive amount of time to get there. They had been held up several times as Brock chased a woman or Ash walked into another obstacle. Brock was rubbing his side trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling of the constant Poison Jabs, and Ash was still thinking about Dawn's hug. He had been in somewhat of a daze on the walk over, which would explain his crashing into things.

"Well, you couldn't have been any slower could you?" asked Dawn, angrily. They had just arrived at the contest hall.

Ash and Brock winced.

Dawn walked off to the changing room to get ready for the contest, and Brock turned to Ash and said, "I'm going to get us seats, come up when you're ready."

He walked off, Croagunk trailing right behind him. Ash chuckled slightly and turned to Pikachu. Pikachu had decided it was safer to walk on the ground after Ash crashed into the third lamppost, and was standing next to Ash.

"Ready to go up? The contest will be starting soon."

"Pika pika."

Ash started walking, then turned around again and said, "Pikachu, I won't run into anything else. You can get back on my shoulder."

Pikachu scratched his head, then jumped on, and they ran up to the stands and found Brock just in time to hear the opening announcements.

"Get ready for the fabulous Daybreak Town Pokemon contest!"

* * *

Dawn was sitting in the contestant's room, listening to the announcements. When they ceased, she turned to Piplup, who was sitting behind her. "We've come a long way since the double-performance in the Hearthome Contest. We've won a few, lost a few, but this is our time to shine! So let's go out there and do our best!"

She recalled Piplup to his Poke Ball, put it into its Ball Capsule, and attached a star seal.

She sat down on a nearby bench. "_I hope I do alright. The appeal round is always the hardest._"

She was preparing Buneary's Poke Ball too, when suddenly a Plusle and Minun jumped onto her shoulders.

"AAHH!"

She jumped off the bench, accidentally dropping Buneary's Poke Ball. She wheeled around, only to see Ursula, with her Plusle and Minun now on her shoulders.

"How cute! You've been playing with my Plusle and Minun, miss Dee Dee."

Dawn glared. "It's Dawn! Not Dee Dee!"

Then she realized. "How did you know that name?"

Ursula smiled, raised one of her hands, and said airily, "Who knows?"

She smirked. "Aren't you going to sparkle your hair Dee Dee?"

Dawn glared, picked up Buneary's Poke Ball, then walked off to another part of the room and sat down, closing her eyes. "_I'm not going to let Ursula get to me. I'm not going to let Ursula get to me. I'm not going to-_"

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Dawn," said Ash cheerfully, sitting next to her. "All ready for the contest?"

Dawn jumped a little and opened her eyes, but stared at the floor. "Oh… Hey Ash. Yeah… I'm all set…"

Ash turned to look at her. "You okay?"

Dawn nodded slowly. "Just anxious."

Ash grinned. "That's normal. I get like that before my gym battles."

Dawn looked at Ash, something clicking in her head. "Hey Ash…"

"Yeah Dawn?"

"I want to ask yo-"

The voice of Marian, the contest host, cut across Dawn. "Here's our first contestant on the performance stage, Jessalina!"

Ash jumped up. "Ahh! I gotta get back to Brock! I told him I was using the bathroom!"

"Ash, wait!"

But Ash had already run out of the room.

Dawn sighed, removed Piplup and Buneary's Poke Balls from her belt and prepared for her appeal.

* * *

Dawn had the last performance of the appeal round, and with its conclusion, she returned to the contestant's room and slumped into the chair she had vacated minutes before. She sighed with relief, her appeal had gone off without a hitch.

She had first used Piplup's Bubblebeam and Buneary's Ice Beam to fill the performance area with frozen, floating bubbles. Then, Piplup and Buneary began to hop and slide around on the frozen bubbles. Accomplishing this, they used the hovering bubbles as launch pads and completed the routine with a spinning Peck and Dizzy Punch respectively, popping all of the bubbles.

She looked over at Piplup and Buneary and hugged them, her pent up anxiety draining out of her.

"_I guess the only thing I can do is wait. That's a huge load off my shoulders though, having a good first round._"

She began to watch the TV for news about which coordinators were moving to the second round. Then she heard running, and turned around.

"Wow Dawn! You looked great out there!" exclaimed Ash.

Brock nodded. "You'll make it to round two for sure!"

Dawn smiled. "Thanks for the kind words guys!"

Brock looked down at Piplup, who was standing proudly on the seat next to Dawn, and Buneary, who had greeted Pikachu by rubbing up against him. "Of course, Piplup and Buneary were great too!"

Dawn grinned and gently pulled Buneary away from Pikachu. "I feel a lot more confident now! I'm sure I'll win my fifth ribbon!"

Ash grinned. "We know you'll win too!"

Then, Marian's voice rang out over the video screens.

"Our long wait is finally over, and it's time to find out who's moving on to round two!"

Ash, Dawn, and everyone else in the room turned towards the screens in the center of the room.

"The eight talent coordinators moving on to round two are…"

The eight cards were laid out. Dawn immediately found her picture in the lower right corner of the screen, and let out a sigh of relief.

"You did it Dawn! It's on to round two" Ash said, grinning.

He held out his hand, and Dawn gave him a high-five.

"My my. What a great friendship."

Ash and Dawn spun around, trying to find the source of the voice. Brock didn't seem to have heard, he was scouring the room for a woman to chase.

"Ursula!" said Ash and Dawn together.

Ursula smirked. Even if she didn't let it on, she was slightly worried about Dawn. She was fairly certain that Dawn had made it to the second round, and thought that Dawn was likely her only competition in the contest. So she decided to play off her advantage; she had not originally planned to use Plusle and Minun in all of the battle rounds, but if it would hurt Dawn's composure, it would have to be.

She decided to bluff something, hoping for an opening that would give her another advantage.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were girlfriend and boyfriend!"

She was rewarded when both Dawn and Ash blushed. She smirked again.

"Just don't lose before I get to battle you!"

With this, she turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

**This is actually the longest chapter so far. (which, considering how long it took me to write it, makes sense)**

**I hope that everyone is okay with how I went about writing this, I know that it seems and is a lot like the episode. :\.**

**Feel free to voice your opinions on this chapter, how I could improve it, etc. If you have a question, ask that too, I'll do my best to respond. :)  
**

**A big thanks to Facescar for keeping me motivated, allowing me to bounce ideas off of him, and providing many of his own (which will likely be employed in the next chapter).**

**Cheers! :)  
**


	7. Uncertainty

**Well, I suppose this is an awfully quick new chapter. xD. I suppose it's necessary, considering how long it took me to write the one before this...**

**If anyone was looking for Dawn v Ursula this chapter, my apologies, that'll be next chapter.**

**Not much else to say... so...**

**Enjoy! :)  
**

* * *

Ash and Dawn's eyes followed Ursula as she sauntered out of the room.

"Well.. Um…" Dawn turned back to Ash, wondering if he noticed how red she was.

Ash tilted his hat downwards to cover his blush, then ran over to Brock, grabbed his right arm, and tore out of the room, dragging Brock behind, yelling, "Good luck in the second round Dawn!"

Dawn blinked a few times, then shrugged and looked back at the video screens in time to see her first round battle matchup.

Her first round battle went exceedingly well. Mamoswine and Cyndaquil scored a clean victory over the other coordinator's Pokemon. They were able to dodge their opponent's moves and execute all of their combinations, except one.

With a minute remaining, and victory all but secured, Dawn called for Flame-Ice to finish the battle. The combination started out normally. Cyndaquil had begun the combination with Flame Wheel, rotating in the air above Mamoswine. Mamoswine then shot an Ice Shard towards the rotating Cyndaquil, hitting the Flame Wheel and creating a ring of ice around it. Then the combination broke down. As Cyndaquil descended, the Ice Shard was sucked into the Flame Wheel and created the ice enclosure, but it melted away, meaning that the only thing that hit their opponents was a normal Flame Wheel.

Dawn still won the round, but the failure of the new and most powerful combination was a letdown, and she returned to the contestant's room disappointed.

As usually, Ash and Brock came running into the room.

"Hey guys," said Dawn slightly downcast.

Ash grinned, "You did great! Everything worked perfectly!"

Brock nodded, "That was great Dawn. But what happened to that Flame-Ice?"

Dawn sighed, and beckoned them to follow her.

They walked out of the contestant's rooms and into one of the empty practice rooms. Dawn sent out Mamoswine and Cyndaquil as Ash and Brock sat down on a nearby bench.

She put her right hand on her chin, looking thoughtful. "It worked fine yesterday. I'm not sure what went wrong today."

She paused. "Well, let's try it again. Cyndaquil! Use Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil jumped off of Mamoswine's back and then began to spin into a forward somersault, the flames on its back circling around it.

"Now! Mamoswine! Use Ice Shard!"

Mamoswine created a sphere of ice and sent it flying up towards Cyndaquil. It collided with a popping noise, and engulfed Cyndaquil in a large plume of smoke.

"Alright, now! Flame-Ice!"

Cyndaquil dove out of the smoke with a ring of ice chunks surrounding it. Then the ice chunks shot towards the Flame Wheel and enveloped it in a large icy diamond. But then, the flames heated up the ice and it disappeared into another cloud of smoke.

Cyndaquil rolled onto the ground and extinguished its flames.

"Awesome!" Ash exclaimed, beginning to clap, "That was great!"

Pikachu and Piplup jumped in agreement, but all three stopped when Dawn sighed dejectedly.

Ash looked at her questioningly. "What's the problem? It looks great if you ask me!"

Dawn looked down at her feet. "But… That's not what Flame-Ice is supposed to look like…"

Brock nodded sympathetically. "There's no guarantee that it'll work when you try to use it in the contest. Why don't you put it away for now, and work on a more reliable combination?"

Brock then turned to Ash. "I gotta use the bathroom. I'll be in the stands if you need me."

He walked out of the room, and Dawn recalled Mamoswine and Cyndaquil. Then she slumped down on the bench, holding her head in her hands.

"_I can't believe this. We've practiced that move for so long. Now I have to think of something else to do for the next round…_"

She looked up at Ash through her fingers, seeing him looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She looked down at the floor.

"_This stinks. Now I bet even Ash thinks I'm weak and can't do anything right._"

She felt him sit next to her.

"Dawn-" he started.

She felt her conflicting emotions all rush together. She wasn't sure what possessed her to say what she said next, or how she was really feeling at that moment. "Go," she said, rather brusquely.

"Huh?" said Ash, softly.

Dawn shuddered slightly before responding. "Just go. Go sit with Brock and watch the rest of the contest. I don't want you to have to listen to my pathetic whining and problems and-"

"Dawn."

Dawn stopped her rambling and looked up at him again.

His face was stern, but his brown eyes were dark with concern.

"Don't say that."

One of his arms snaked out around her waist and pulled her close to him. Dawn blushed slightly at the closeness of their bodies. She could feel his heart beating and the heat radiating from him.

Ash spoke again, softly. "Dawn. You know your combinations work. Flame-Ice worked yesterday remember? You hit me with it."

Dawn couldn't help but giggle a little. "I'm sorry Ash," she apologized, "I guess you're right though."

Ash laughed. "If you don't want to use Flame-Ice, I'm sure you can think of something else. You always do."

Dawn smiled and said, "Thanks Ash."

She scooted up closer against him unconsciously. Ash blushed, but kept his arm around her.

They remained silent for a little while longer until Dawn said quietly, "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Wha-"

She was interrupted as the door banged open. Ash and Dawn jumped up from the bench and moved away from each other.

"Oops!" said Ursula, smirked at what she had come across, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, no, no," said Ash, blushing.

Dawn, blushing too, thought to herself sarcastically, "_No, no, of course not. You didn't interrupt __**anything**__._"

"Okay then!" Ursula gave a casual flick of her hand and walked away.

Ash turned back towards Dawn, "Well, I should be getting up to Brock. Your battle is probably soon."

Dawn jumped. "You're right! I completely forgot."

She ran off, Ash calling out after her. "Good luck!"

Dawn passed through the semi-finals easily, riding on Ash's words of confidence and Brock's advice. She had not called for a single Flame-Ice, instead opting to using simple synchronized moves and combinations.

After the conclusion of the battle, Ash and Brock got up from their seats and began to walk down towards the contestant's room. Piplup had come up to the stands to watch the battles after being used in the appeal, and was being carried in Ash's arms. Pikachu was in his usual spot on Ash's shoulder.

Brock chuckled to himself, watching the two Pokemon. Pikachu and Piplup had become as close as brothers on their travels together, and Pikachu didn't seem averse to giving up valuable space on his trainer to Piplup. Piplup also allowed Ash to hold him like Dawn did, with Ash's arms wrapped around him, and didn't seem to mind. Brock swore he sometimes even saw Piplup snuggling up to Ash.

As they descended the floors towards the contestant's room, Ash's nose suddenly caught wind of the scent of warm food.

"Look Brock! A pretzel stand! I think I'm going to get some."

"But Dawn's-," started Brock, but it was too late. Ash had already run off towards the pretzel stand. Brock sighed, thinking, "_Ash and his food…_"

"I'll see you downstairs," Brock yelled, walking towards the stairs, and was surprised to see Ash raise a hand in acknowledgement.

Dawn returned to the contestant's room in almost a daze, full of confidence and happiness. "_I'm in the finals! Today's going to be the day I get my fifth ribbon!_"

Her attention turned towards the video screen as she watched the other semi-final battle, between Ursula and a coordinator she didn't recognize. "_Looks like Ursula's winning. I guess it'll be me and her again…_"

Then she became aware of someone watching her, and turned to see Brock with an amused smile on his face.

"What?" she asked, self-consciously.

"Nothing, nothing," he said, "Nice job out there."

"Thanks Brock."

She paused. "Where's Ash?"

Brock laughed. "He, Pikachu, and Piplup are stuffing their faces at a pretzel stand. They'll be down soon."

Brock turned an eye to the video screens. "It looks like Ursula's winning. You'll probably be facing her in the finals."

Dawn nodded slowly, her hands balling into fists.

Brock said, "Well, I'm going to head back up. If I see Ash, I'll send him down."

Dawn nodded again.

Brock headed out of the room, but stopped in the doorway and looked back.

"Dawn, I was never one for inspirational speeches, but don't let Ursula get to you. The nickname? That's in the past, forget about it."

Dawn smiled weakly. "Thanks Brock."

He smiled and gave a thumbs-up, then left the room.

Meanwhile, Ash, Piplup, and Pikachu were slumped onto a bench near the pretzel stand, the ground and unused parts of the bench littered with salt and crumbs and plastic pretzel wrappers.

Ash groaned. "I think we might have eaten a bit too much…"

He turned towards Piplup and Pikachu, who were lying across the wrappers with queasy looks on their faces. Pikachu raised one paw and said weakly, "Pika Pika…" Piplup was lying under a used wrapper, using it as a blanket, and sleeping.

Ash took off his hat and scratched his head, looking at Piplup. "You know, I can't help but think there was something I was supposed to be doing…"

Then it hit him. "Oh crud! I forgot to go talk to Dawn!"

He jumped up, Pikachu looking giving him a peculiar look before jumping onto his shoulder. Pikachu almost fell off, but managed to regain his grip as Ash scooped up the sleeping Piplup in his arms and tore down the stairs.

He cleared the steps three at a time, not paying much attention to where he was running. "_Oh boy, I hope Dawn hasn't started her round yet! I'd feel so bad… She's always at my gym battles, cheering, and if I wasn't there... And she's probably expecting me to be there too…_"

He was paying so little attention that he didn't realize that the stairs relocated to a different location at one of the floors and he slammed right into a wall, jarring Piplup awake and knocking Pikachu off of his shoulder.

"Oww…" said Ash, rubbing his head, as Piplup chirped at him indignantly. "Sorry Piplup…"

He picked himself up, grabbed Piplup and was about to run off again when he heard Brock laughing.

He spun around. "Brock!"

Brock grinned. "Watch out. What were you doing?"

Ash scratched his head sheepishly, looking down at Piplup, who had gone back to sleep in his arms. "I guess I was just thinking about something else."

Brock just sighed and said, "The stairs down to the contestant's area are steeper, so watch out. Now hurry! Dawn's waiting for you. I'll take Piplup, go ahead."

Ash transferred Piplup to Brock's arms, scooped up Pikachu, and started running again. Brock just shook his head. "_I think Barry is rubbing off on that guy…_"

Dawn settled back down on her chair and looked back up at the video screens. Ursula had over half of her points remaining while the other coordinator had only one-fourth of his. Dawn watched for a little while longer, then grew uninterested and began watching the door, waiting for Ash.

Every time the door opened, she jumped in her seat slightly, craning her neck to see if it was Ash.

She vaguely heard Marian's voice coming from the screens saying, "And the coordinator moving on to the final round is: Ursula!" But then the door opened again, and her attention was diverted back towards the door.

Another person she didn't recognize walked in. She sighed again.

"_Where is Ash? He can't have forgotten! He wouldn't have forgotten._"

She sat on her chair, and stared at one of the walls absentmindedly, so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Ursula re-enter the room.

"_I guess I can't expect Ash to be here all of the time. I guess he might be busy, or he's still eating. I mean, I didn't __**ask **__him to come down here… But still, I wish he was here…_"

Ursula watched from a nearby chair, as Dawn talked to herself. Her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out.

"_Why do I want him to be here? I mean, it's not like he-Ugh. Who am I kidding... Ash means a lot to me. He's my best friend, maybe more._"

She sighed. "_I hope he isn't annoyed at me. Or angry…"_

She shook her head. "_Get a hold of yourself! Stop thinking these thoughts, you've got the finals of the contest to worry about_!"

Dawn looked up at the screen and noticed that there were 10 minutes remaining until the finals. She decided she'd go to the dressing room and check her hair one last time, it couldn't hurt, right?

She stood up to leave the room when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Hey Dee-Dee. Where are your friends? They forget about you?" asked Ursula, smirking.

Dawn, remembering Brock's advice, fought to keep her voice even. "No, they're busy. They were watching your battle," she said calmly.

"Really?" said Ursula, with exaggerated surprise, "I'd think they'd be down here telling you how great you are."

Dawn gritted her teeth but said nothing.

Ursula smirked again. "Maybe, they've given up."

Dawn was not expecting this. "What?"

Ursula's smirk widened. "Maybe they're tired of you failing and decided to just leave you."

Dawn's eyes widened, the impact of the statement hitting her and causing her doubts to rise. "They… They wouldn't… Ash wouldn't do that!"

Ursula shrugged. "I don't know… I didn't see him in the stands…"

After waiting a few seconds, she said, "Well, I'll see you in the finals."

She waved and walked out of the room.

Dawn sank into her chair again. "_They wouldn't leave would they? They're my friends? Ash… I need him too much for that. She's got to be lying._"

But she was snapped out of her daze when a man poked his head into the room and said, "Is there a 'Dawn' in here?"

Dawn raised her hand and said softly, "Here."

The man smiled. "You're in the contest final young lady, and it's starting now!"

Dawn nodded and followed him, checking her hair in a mirror as they left the room and headed towards the stage.

The man left when she entered the tunnel to head to the stage.

"_Well, here goes. This is it. Time to get my fifth ribbon… Hopefully."_

She sighed and walked onto the stage and took her space in the left-hand side challenger's box. Ursula smiled at her smugly from the other side.

"Now for the moment you've all been waiting for! It's the final stage of the Daybreak Town Pokemon Contest! To my right, it's Ursula! And to my left, Dawn!"

* * *

**So yeah, Dawn v Ursula is coming next chapter. :a.**

**As always, feel free to voice your opinions on this chapter in the reviews. Even if it's negative, go right ahead. It's always helpful. :).**

**Apologies again if this setup/preliminary rounds chapter wasn't as expected. Rest assured, Dawn v Ursula is coming next chapter, with all of its poorly written battle goodness. :)**

**Thanks once again to Facescar, for being the person for me to bounce and receive ideas from. :)  
**

**Cheers! :D  
**


	8. Problems of the Past and Present

**Alrighty! So here it is! Chapter 8, and the first part of the Dawn v Ursula battle.**

**This battle in this chapter is largely based on the one in DP162 (Playing the Performance Encore), so it may seem familiar to those who have watched the episode. This is the first time I have ever written a Pokemon battle, so please, please, give your input. I need to know what I can improve on, and what to keep doing next time I write a battle. :D.**

**Due to the common changes of scene, please be aware that there are a number of page breaks.  
**

**Enjoy! :)  
**

* * *

Ash tore off down the flights of stairs, not stopping for the people giving him questioning looks, or vendors and attendants telling him to slow down. He didn't even notice when he made a sharp turn and Pikachu lost his grip and fell off of his shoulder, he just continued running.

"_I gotta get to Dawn…_ _I hope the finals haven't started yet._"

As he turned the corner to the contestant's room, he collided with someone, sending them both sprawling across the floor.

"Oww…" Ash rubbed his head, wondering why the phrase "I'm going to fine you!" was running through his mind. He shrugged it off, and quickly picked himself up and ran into the room.

There were a few coordinators watching the video screens in the middle of the room, but no Dawn. Ash looked up at the video screens, Marian was giving the opening announcements. Then Ash noticed Dawn standing on one side of the battle field.

"_Oh crud! I gotta get back into the stands!"_

He was about to turn around and run back out when he felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder. He turned only to see a tall, official-looking, sharply-dressed man standing in front of him, looking at him disapprovingly. It occurred to Ash, by the man's somewhat disheveled appearance, that he was the one who he ran into in the hallway.

"Umm… Hi!" said Ash, brightly. "How are you?"

"Young man, you ought to be more careful. You could have hurt someone," said the man, sternly.

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry. I'll slow down. I was just in a hurry to… uh… see my friend… She's in the contest finals and I wanted to wish her good luck before they started… But… Uh.. I'm late, and she's not here… So I gotta go watch... Yeah…" Ash snuck a look at the video screens, the battle hadn't started yet.

The man raised an eyebrow, following Ash's eyes to the video screens. "Is her name Dawn?"

Ash nodded quickly, wondering, "_When's he gonna let me go so I can go watch, and how the heck does he know her name?_"

The man laughed. "I just brought her to the contest stage, she looked fine."

Ash forced a smile onto his face. "That's great. Do you mind if… I uh.."

The man looked thoughtful. "Hmm. Is she your girlfriend?"

Ash, still edging towards the door, jumped slightly. "My… My girlfriend? Oh no, no. We're just good friends.. Yeah… Can I.. uh… go now?"

The man laughed again. "Go ahead."

He watched as Ash sprinted out of the room. As he reached the center of the room, something occurred to him, and he spun around, saying, "Oh, and remember to slow down!" But Ash was nowhere in sight. He just shook his head and walked off, muttering about 'the youth of today'.

* * *

As Dawn listened to Marian's introductions, out of curiosity, she looked up to the spot in the stands where she had seen Ash and Brock in the first round.

She had to blink a few times to make sure what she was seeing was true. Ursula, following Dawn's eyes, smirked. "_This is working out better than I would have hoped…_"

She could see Brock and Piplup sitting in the seats, but there was an empty spot next to them. Ash and Pikachu were missing.

She took a deep breath. "_Calm down Dawn. They might just be in the bathroom or something. You've got a contest to win._"

Her fists tightened involuntarily. Brock, sitting in the stands with the half-awake Piplup, noticed this. "_She sure seems nervous. I wonder if Ash and Pikachu saw her before the battle."_

"There's five minutes on the clock! And begin… Now!"

Dawn grabbed one Poke Ball in each hand, holding her thumbs over the releases.

"Alright! Mamoswine, Cyndaquil! Let's go! Spotlight!"

She threw the two Poke Balls into the air, one after the other. She timed her throw so the second one opened above the first. With a flash of light, the first Poke Ball opened, electric seal causing several lightning bolt-shaped lights to rain down beneath it, Mamoswine appearing out of the light as the lightning bolts dissipated. At the same time, Cyndaquil appeared above it, jumping in front of Mamoswine and shooting fire out of its back.

Dawn, Mamoswine, and Cyndaquil looked at Ursula expectantly. She smirked, grabbed her two Poke Balls in her right hand, did a pirouette and tossed them in front of her.

"Plusle, Minun, let's go!"

The Poke Balls opened, their seals causing flower petals to spread into a large star shape. Then, with a flash of light, they popped and revealed Ursula's Plusle and Minun. They gave each other a tail-five, shooting small bolts of electricity out around them.

Ash noticed the battle as he ran past a television screen.

"_Good, so I haven't missed much. Better hurry…_"

He continued running up the stairs when he passed the pretzel stand that he had visited earlier. As he ran by it, he noticed there were some people sitting on the bench he had eaten at earlier, and noted guiltily that there were still pretzel wrappers all over. He also noticed one of the people on the bench had a Pichu, and then it hit him.

He touched his shoulders and thought, "_Uh-oh. I must've lost Pikachu somewhere when I was running. I wonder where he could be… Maybe I left him in the contestant's area. Yeah, I'll go look there._"

He turned and ran back down the stairs.

* * *

Dawn was tempted to call for a Flame-Ice, simply to have the satisfaction of calling her newest and most impressive combination and seeing the expression on Ursula's face, but thought better of it and said, "Mamoswine, use Ice Shard!"

Mamoswine leaned back on its hind legs and created a spinning sphere of ice in front of its head.

"Alright, go Cyndaquil!"

Cyndaquil, who was still sitting in front on Mamoswine, gave a quick bust of fire from the vents on its back. The Ice Shard, which was directly above it, was propelled upwards by the flames and held in the air by the heat. It rotated over the flames, shining as the fire's light shone through it.

Dawn smiled. It was working as planned. She could vaguely hear Marian talking about her performance, but zoned it out. "Mamoswine, go for it!"

Mamoswine jumped into the air, opening its mouth and going for the Ice Shard. Dawn chuckled to herself, noticing Ursula's shocked expression. "_I guess I didn't need the Flame-Ice…_"

Ursula quickly wiped the look of shock off of her face. She smirked at Dawn, who was watching her reactions. "Not bad," she said.

Mamoswine swallowed the Ice Shard and landed in front of Cyndaquil. As Dawn watched, she remembered, with a pang, that Ash and his Grotle had taught them the swallowing tactic. There was a silence in the audience as they waited for the result of the ice swallowing. Then the fur on Mamoswine's back rose up and froze over, creating icy spikes. There was a collective release of breath and wild cheering.

Dawn grinned and snuck a quick look back up at the seats. "_Still no Ash…_" she thought sadly.

She shook her head and pointed towards Mamoswine. "Cyndaquil! Use Swift!"

Cyndaquil jumped into the air and spun, sending gold stars flying into an orbit around Mamoswine. Then it landed on Mamoswine's head and shot its flames out of its back. The flames trailed between the layers of icy spikes, causing them to shine alternately with the light from the fire and the stars flying around the two Pokemon.

"Now Mamoswine, Take Down!"

* * *

Pikachu, after being knocked off of Ash's shoulder, had attempted to follow his trainer down the stairs, but had lost sight of the stairs as he tried to weave his way between the legs of people walking around on the concourse. When he finally regained his bearings and found the contestant's room, Ash was nowhere to be found.

"Pika…" he said, scratching his head.

Then it occurred to Pikachu that Ash was probably already done in the contestant's room and was probably searching for him at that moment. He began to make his way back up to their seat in the stands, figuring he'd run into Ash somewhere along the way.

Meanwhile, Ash was running down the stairs towards the contestant's room, frantically looking around on all of the floors he passed for any sign of his yellow buddy.

* * *

As Mamoswine charged towards Plusle and Minun, Ursula crossed her hands and said, "Plusle and Minun, get ready to jump!"

Seconds before Mamoswine would have made contact, Plusle and Minun touched paws, creating a shimmering electric pom-pom, and then leaped high into the air, dodging the Take Down. They spun as they ascended, the pom-pom's color alternating between yellow and blue.

Mamoswine leaned onto its right legs to break its momentum and slid to a stop. Due to the slide, Cyndaquil lost balance and its flames hit Mamoswine's ice spikes, melting them. The entire array of fire, spikes, and stars vanished in a cloud of smoke, and Cyndaquil jumped off of Mamoswine's back, landing in front of it.

Ursula opened her arms in a flourishing gesture. "Plusle and Minun! Use Encore!"

Plusle and Minun continued their upwards spiral until they reached the apex of the jump. They then clasped their paws together, charging electricity through the pom-pom until it changed into a large white ball of light. As they descended, they threw this at Mamoswine and Cyndaquil.

The white ball of light hit Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, causing no physical damage, but causing their fur to light up and look like TV static.

Dawn was confused and curious. The move did not appear to have done any harm, but their fur was sparkly. Mamoswine and Cyndaquil seemed nervous, shifting and looking at their fur confusedly.

Ursula smiled contentedly. "Perfect…"

Dawn was taken aback. "But… W-What happened…?'

* * *

Because of the crowds of people milling around on the concourses, buying food, chatting, and watching out of their seats, Ash and Pikachu missed each other while running up and down the stairs, and as Ash slid into the contestant's room for the fifth time that day, Pikachu made it to the stands where Brock was sitting.

Piplup was now awake and sitting on the back of the seats in front, cheering for Dawn. Pikachu walked up to Brock and tugged on his shirt.

"Pika Chu, Pikapi?" he said, questioningly.

Brock looked down at him. "Huh? Pikachu? Where's Ash?"

Pikachu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. That was what he just asked, wasn't it. "Pikapi!" he said again, urgently.

Brock shook his head. "I'm not getting it Pikachu."

Pikachu scratched his head for a second, thinking, and then tilted his ears down over his face to mimic the hair that stuck out under Ash's cap, and cupped his paws to mimic the cap. "Pika Chu, Pikapi," he said again.

Brock's eyes lit up. "Oh, Ash?" Pikachu nodded. "Did something happen to him?"

Pikachu shook his head no. Brock put his hand on his chin, looking thoughtful. "In that case… Are you maybe looking for him?"

Pikachu nodded vigorously. "I see," said Brock. "Well, the problem is, I'm not sure where he is, I haven't seen him. I assume he's looking for you too. Have you checked the contestant's area? Maybe he's down there."

Pikachu sighed and ran off towards the concourse again, heading back for the contestant's room.

Brock watched Pikachu until he ran out of sight, then he turned back to Dawn's battle.

Dawn waved her arms frantically, trying to catch her Pokemon's attention. "Mamoswine! Cyndaquil! Please calm down!"

Ursula grinned smugly, her eyes dancing with glee. "Well Dee-Dee, I guess this is the end."

Dawn glared at her, but her grin just widened and she said, "So, let's get started. Plusle and Minun, time to steal the show!"

Plusle and Minun began dancing around the battle area, and reformed more electric pom-poms, waving them around.

Dawn clenched her fists. "Anything they do, we can match. Mamoswine, use Hidden Power! Cyndaquil, use Flame Wheel!"

Mamoswine reared onto its back, attempting to charge up energy for Hidden Power as Cyndaquil jumped into the air and did a somersault to launch Flame Wheel.

But, Mamoswine found its legs dragging it along towards Plusle and Minun, the Hidden Power energy being redirected to a Take Down, and when Cyndaquil opened its mouth to start the Flame Wheel, all that came out were Swift stars.

Dawn gasped. "Why are they using Swift and Take Down again?"

Ursula's smirk widened. She gave a casual flick of her wrist outwards, as if explaining a complex mathematical theory to a three year old. "Scary, right? Because we used Encore, all your Pokemon can do is repeat their last move over and over! Get it?"

Dawn did a double-take. "W-What?"

Ursula gestured towards Dawn's Pokemon, still using their moves. "As long as Encore is in play, why bother calling any attacks at all?"

Dawn gritted her teeth. "_So that means, no matter what, we can't do anything!_"

Ursula called out, "Plusle and Minun! Helping Hand!"

Plusle and Minun stopped their dancing, hopped towards each other, and then leaned over so that their paws were touching, the pom-poms' energy being released throughout the other's body, causing it to glow.

Just as Cyndaquil's Swift and Mamoswine were about to reach Plusle and Minun, Ursula brought her arms outwards in a conductor's pose and said, "Plusle and Minun! Charge Beam!"

Plusle and Minun jumped up, forming two bright spheres of electricity on their paws, then they threw these into the ground, sending bolts of electricity towards Cyndaquil and Mamoswine. It plowed through Cyndaquil's Swift and Mamoswine's Take Down, and knocked both Pokemon to the ground. As they picked themselves up, Plusle and Minun grinned cheekily at them.

As Dawn frantically tried to think of a new combination, her gaze inadvertently drifted back to the seats. Piplup and Brock had grown worried, and had stopped dancing and cheering and had instead reverting to shouting encouragement. But, to Dawn, it looked like they had given up.

"_Still no Ash, and Piplup and Brock look solemn… Maybe they have given up…_"

* * *

Ash slid back into the contestant's room, scanning the room quickly for Pikachu. Seeing no yellow, he jumped back up and began to run back up the stairs, spurred to greater speed by an increasing sense of concern for Pikachu's safety, and concern for Dawn, who he observed not looking overly confident in her battle.

As he turned the corner onto the floor where he had run into Brock before the contest, he saw a flash of silver and then found himself overly acquainted with the cold, metal side of a popcorn vendor's rolling cart.

The crash made a loud metallic clanging noise, and it attracted the attention of Pikachu, who happened to be passing through that floor. He and the popcorn vendor hurried over to Ash's side.

Pikachu climbed onto Ash's shoulder and stared at him expectantly, but Ash just pushed him off, thinking he was the popcorn vendor trying to scold him, jumped up and started spluttering apologies.

"I'm sorry sir! I really didn't- I mean, I was trying to go find my Pikachu, so I was in a hurry, and-Well, you know, I-"

He stopped, noticing both the popcorn vendor and Pikachu were watching him with expressions of amusement. He scratched his head sheepishly. "Err.. Sorry about that. Hey Pikachu."

Pikachu rolled his eyes and jumped onto Ash's shoulder. The popcorn vendor grinned at him and said, "Well young man, you certainly seem in a hurry. Don't worry, I'll clean this up, go on!"

Ash thanked him profusely, then turned to Pikachu and said, "Ready buddy?"

"Pi-Ka!"

"Alright, let's go!" Ash took off up the stairs again.

* * *

Ursula grinned. Everything was working out perfectly. "_I have to remember to thank that boy Dawn travelled with for leaving and creating such a distraction. What was his name again? Ash? Oh it doesn't matter…_"

She turned back to Plusle and Minun. "Use Spark! Let's go!"

Plusle and Minun touched paws, and charged electricity throughout their body, causing them to glow white. Then they jumped into the air and dove at Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, colored trails following their path, gold for Plusle, blue for Minun.

Plusle and Minun slammed into Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, creating small firework displays of electrical energy releases upon contact. They swooped down and hit again and again with impunity, Mamoswine and Cyndaquil unable to do anything but sit there and take the attacks.

Dawn looked at the scoreboard, noticing she was losing points on every hit. Out of desperation, she yelled, "Mamoswine, Cyndaquil! Dodge those Sparks!"

Mamoswine used Take Down, and charged towards Plusle, and Cyndaquil jumped into the air, sending swifts at the approaching Minun.

Ursula watched the action, amused. "Plusle and Minun! Dodge those attacks with style and hit them again!"

Plusle and Minun headed straight back for Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, Plusle hit Mamoswine on the top of its head, causing it to trip and fall down, and Minun made a graceful arc around Cyndaquil's Swift and hit it with Spark as well. As Mamoswine and Cyndaquil fell roughly to the ground, Plusle and Minun landed softly, and struck a pose.

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil picked themselves up again, but slower this time.

Dawn was growing nervous. "_What can I do? I have to think of something! They're running out of energy!_"

Then Ursula's voice cut rudely into her thoughts. "Use Spark again!"

Plusle and Minun jumped up again, hitting Mamoswine and Cyndaquil again, and sent them flying towards Dawn.

They collided right in front of Dawn, causing a large release of electrical energy, masking the area with smoke. Dawn closed her eyes, and felt a strange current run through her body, and then a jolt, like static electricity.

When the smoke cleared, Dawn opened her eyes, and noticed Mamoswine and Cyndaquil's fur was spiked up and sparkly. As she looked at them, she thought she remembered the effect from somewhere, and Ursula reminded her from where.

Ursula smirked and said, almost laughing, "That's some hairdo! To think I got to see Diamond Dandruff in person!"

"Huh?" Dawn put her hands on her head, feeling her hair. "_No. No. This can't be._"

Then she noticed her hair was spiked up, and on the shiny contest battle floor, saw the sparkles. "_Oh no… It is…_"

She collapsed to her knees and screamed.

* * *

**I must say, even though I wrote it, I'm annoyed by Ash this chapter... :P.**

**Part Two of this battle hopefully coming soon. :D.**

**Of course, as always, please give your input on this story in a review. Since this the first battle I have written, I'd like to have input on that especially. **

**Oh, and, spoiler, Ash will likely actually find Dawn next chapter, he's away for a reason. xD.  
**

**Cheers! :)  
**


	9. The Cause of Confidence

**Alrighty! Here is the longest chapter of the fic so far, and part two of the Dawn v Ursula battle! :D.**

**As with part one of the battle, the battle scenes in this chapter are largely based off of those in DP162 (Playing the Performance Encore), but there's more original writing this chapter. :D.**

**Oh, a warning. If you have a problem with an overly sensitive, OoC Ash, you might have a problem with this chapter. It's not too overboard, but it's definitely OoC. :P.**

**This also contains a large amount of marshmallows, due to the lack of fluff in previous chapters. :P.**

**Anyways, enjoy! :D  
**

* * *

As Ash ran up the stairs and reached the first level of the stands, he heard the conversations of various people, talking about the battle, and it didn't sound like it was going well for Dawn.

"Look at her hair!"

"What's happening?"

"Do you see that blue-haired girl? She doesn't look so good!"

Ash tried to continue climbing the stairs, but couldn't stop thinking about Dawn.

"_I hope she's alright…_" he thought, as he continued climbing the steps. "_I bet she's fine. She's done plenty of contests before." _He reached the top of the steps and stopped, shaking his head and attracting Pikachu's attention. "_I gotta make sure. I'll just have a look_."

As he walked up to one of the windows overlooking the contest stage, Pikachu poked Ash on his cheek and said, "Pikapi? Pikaka?"

Ash just nodded and looked down at the contest stage through the window. The first thing he saw was Dawn lying on the ground, her hands over her head, and only one thought ran through his mind. "_No. She's __**not**__ okay."_

He peeled her gaze away from the window and began to run back towards the stairs. Pikachu poked Ash again in confusion when he saw they were heading down towards the first level of the stands rather than up to where Brock was.

But Ash didn't seem to notice Pikachu's confusion, and ran straight down the stairs, heading through the stands for the front row.

Dawn lay on the floor, her hands on her head, and not caring that the timer was still running. "_It's over. I've embarrassed myself in front of all of these people. Brock has given up. Ash isn't even watching. I don't know why I tried…_"

She could hear Mamoswine and Cyndaquil trying to tell her something, and Ursula's confident voice, but zoned them all out.

Then she heard a voice, a more urgent one. She tried, but somehow could not zone this one out.

"Dawn!" it called out. "DAWN!"

"Ash…" she said quietly, lifting her head up to look at him. "Maybe you haven't given up…"

Ash was standing in the front row, leaning over the railing. Dawn could see the brown in his eyes, radiating his genuine concern. Ignoring the confused and shocked looks of the people around him, he continued to yell out.

"Dawn! Get a hold of yourself. You know you can do it! I know you can do it!"

"Pika Pika!"

Ash felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the contest official that he had run into earlier. He looked stern, but his eyes were dancing with amusement. "Young man, you're causing quite a scene, would you please return to your seat?"

Ash turned around. "Oh… Sorry, kinda got caught up."

As he followed the official back towards the concourse, he turned once more and yelled, "Show 'em Dawn!"

When they returned to the concourse, the official turned towards Ash and said, smiling slightly, "I thought I told you to stay out of trouble."

Ash grinned sheepishly. "I had to go help out my friend."

The official laughed. "Just go back and sit down, but don't let me catch you doing something like that again."

Ash nodded and began to climb the stairs again; heading for Brock, while Pikachu just shook his head, wondering what had gotten into his trainer.

When Ash resumed his seat next to Brock, and Pikachu hopped onto the seats in front with Piplup, Brock turned to him and said, "What were you doing? I saw you down in the front row, looked like you were saying something."

Ash scratched his head, remembering the contest official's words. "Oh, just causing trouble."

Brock laughed, understanding. "Alright."

Dawn ran her hands through her hair to smooth it out. It was still sparkling slightly, but she was in somewhat of a daze and didn't notice.

"_Ash came down to help me. He didn't give up. He's rooting for me. I gotta do this, if not just for me, for him._"

She picked herself up, dusting off her dress and stared towards Ursula, feeling a kind of inner confidence she hadn't felt in a long time.

Ursula was slightly shocked at Dawn's recovery, but quickly changed her expression from shocked to confident and said, "All better now, Dee-Dee?"

Dawn ignored her, and looked at Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, thinking fast.

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil shook themselves off, flattening their fur. Then they faced Dawn expectantly.

"Right!"

Dawn's new feeling of crazy confidence had made her think recklessly, and she thought of something she probably wouldn't have if she was just looking at the situation normally.

"It's just their other attacks that are blocked, they can still move!"

She grinned.

"Mamoswine! Use Take Down on Cyndaquil! Cyndaquil, use Swift on Mamoswine!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil flinched slightly. Whatever order they had been expecting, this was not it.

Ash, sitting up in the stands, watching, flinched too. "Uh-oh! What's with that?"

Brock was just as surprised. "Why do such a thing?"

Ash winced, fidgeting. "_I hope I didn't make her want to lose on purpose… I probably embarrassed her, running out like that…_"

If anything, Ursula was the most surprised, but she just smirked. "_Well, If she wants to lose, she can go ahead. I'll gladly take that fifth ribbon._"

Dawn clenched her fists, looking towards Mamoswine and Cyndaquil. "No need to worry."

They nodded, and Cyndaquil jumped to the side, spinning and shooting stars at Mamoswine.

Dawn snuck a quick look at the scoreboard. She was losing points slowly, but if her plan worked, she'd still have enough points left to pull out the victory.

Mamoswine shook off the pain from the Swift stars and put its head down, charging straight at Cyndaquil with Take Down. However, just before impact, Mamoswine jumped and landed in front of Cyndaquil, releasing its energy. The released energy and the Swift collided and engulfed Mamoswine and Cyndaquil in a bright white light.

The light vanished in an outwards motion, similar to the effect of a Poke Ball failing to capture a previously owned Pokemon. The sparkles and light were sucked off of Mamoswine and Cyndaquil's bodies, dissipating with a bang.

Dawn smiled. Her plan had worked. "That Encore is history!"

Ursula gasped as her Plusle and Minun did a double take. "What?"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil picked themselves up, slightly battered but free of the Encore. Dawn grinned at Ursula. "You see? Since Encore only blocks a Pokemon's moves, but not its spirit, all Mamoswine and Cyndaquil needed was a fighting chance to break free!"

She smiled at her Pokemon. "And that chance? It came straight from the heart."

Ursula smiled condescendingly. She was, despite all her best efforts not to be, impressed. She put her hands on her hips. "Not bad. Not bad at all. You used the only moves you could to break free of Encore's hold."

Ash, relieved that the friendly fire was planned and not his fault, jumped up, pumping his fist. "That was awesome! What a great idea!"

Brock was surprised by Ash's enthusiasm, but just shook his head and said, "Yeah, but look… She's almost out of time…"

Ursula grinned. Unless Dawn came up with a new amazing combination soon, she had it won. But, it never hurt to have a little insurance.

She leaned forward. "Charge Beam, let's go!"

Plusle and Minun leaned towards each other, charging electricity through their bodies and channeling it to their paws, creating shiny, electrical pom-poms. Then they threw these into the ground, sending electricity shooting towards Mamoswine and Cyndaquil.

But this time, Mamoswine and Cyndaquil were prepared, and they jumped into the air, dodging the Charge Beam. The electricity released beneath them, illuminating them with light and creating fireworks. Ursula clenched her teeth.

As Mamoswine and Cyndaquil landed on the ground, Dawn said, "If we're going to win, we're going to have to use Flame-Ice. But no need to worry, because you two can do it for sure!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil nodded, and Dawn said, "Cyndaquil, Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil jumped onto Mamoswine's back and propelled itself into the air, spinning and shooting flames out of its mouth, creating a spinning ball of fire in the air.

"And Mamoswine, Ice Shard!"

Mamoswine made a ball of ice in front of it, about the same size as Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel, then threw it into the air, where it collided with the Flame Wheel. With a flash of light, the Ice Shard formed a ring of icy chunks around the Flame Wheel.

"Do it!"

Cyndaquil went into a dive, and as it descended, the ice was sucked into the Flame Wheel, but simultaneously pushed out due to the heat, and formed a diamond-shaped container around the Flame Wheel. As it descended, the facets of the ice caught the light from the contest hall and from the Flame Wheel, and it shone as Cyndaquil spun.

"Alright! That's a perfect Flame-Ice!"

As she watched the Flame-Ice descend towards Plusle and Minun, and watched Ursula's incredulous expression ("No way!"), she felt a pang of guilt, picturing Ash in Plusle and Minun's place a day earlier.

Ash, still out of his seat, grinned at Brock. Brock laughed and said, "Dawn might just win this. What do you know? She calls for the perfect Flame-Ice, and it appears, just in the nick of time."

Dawn grinned. It was time to finish what she started. "Cyndaquil, go!"

Cyndaquil released even more flames from its mouth, heating up the ice even more, then opened the vents on its back, shooting flames out of the ice, propelling the Flame-Ice downwards at an incredible speed.

Plusle and Minun, awed by the combination, reacted too late, and the Flame-Ice collided with them, knocking them into the air.

Cyndaquil rolled to a stop on the ground as the flames dissipated.

Ursula gasped, still in shock over the combination, but regained her composure and said, "Plusle and Minun! Use Spark!"

Plusle and Minun spun to a stop in mid-air, then touched their paws together again to create a single glowing electric pom-pom.

"Now Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!"

Cyndaquil leaned back, then shot a large amount of smoke out of its mouth, enveloping Plusle and Minun. In the smoke, they lost their concentration and couldn't maintain the Spark's energy, causing it to implode on them.

As Plusle and Minun fell to the ground, Ursula yelled, "Plusle and Minun! Stay strong!"

"Mamoswine! Use Hidden Power"

Mamoswine's body glowed as it charged up energy, then it shot several spheres of blue light at Plusle, knocking it backwards.

"Now Cyndaquil, use Swift!"

Cyndaquil jumped into the air and spun, shooting golden stars out of its mouth at Minun, knocking it across the floor next to Plusle.

Ash looked at the scoreboard. By this time, Dawn had more points than Ursula. "Wow! They've done it! They've broken down Plusle and Minun's combinations!"

Ursula shook her head out of frustration, then crossed her arms and said, "We're not finished yet! Use Spark!"

Plusle and Minun leaned over towards each other, creating another shining pom-pom. Then they ran this electricity through their bodies, causing them to glow and sparkle.

Dawn clenched her fists. "Get ready, here they come!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil nodded and waited.

Plusle and Minun continued charging the electricity through their bodies, and were about to use the final energy from the electric pom-pom, when suddenly Marian's voice echoed through the stadium.

"That's it! Time!"

Plusle and Minun abruptly cut off their electrical charges, looking surprised. Ursula looked up at the scoreboard, but Dawn was too shocked to look up. She just stared straight ahead, waiting for Marian's announcement.

"And the winner of the final stage is…"

Dawn snapped out of her daze, and quickly looked at the scoreboard. She didn't have enough time to catch a glimpse of the points meters before the board rolled to a new screen. This new screen showed just her, Mamoswine and Cyndaquil.

"It's Dawn!"

Dawn was stunned. "We… We won?"

She paused as the effect of Marian's words hit her. "We won! We did it! Mamoswine and Cyndaquil! We won!"

She ran onto the field and hugged Mamoswine's leg. Mamoswine grunted contentedly, and Cyndaquil leaped up into Dawn's arms. She grinned and gave it a big hug.

"Thanks Cyndaquil! And you too Mamoswine! Thanks to the both of you! I don't even care right now if anyone calls me Dee-Dee!"

Ash grinned, watching as Piplup and Pikachu jumped around happily. "She did it! She won!"

"And now, our head judge, Mr. Contesta, will present Dawn with the beautiful and prestigious Daybreak ribbon for her victory today!"

Dawn watched as Mr. Contesta walked up to her, holding the ribbon on a tray. The moment was almost in slow-motion for her and she took the ribbon from the tray and admired how it gleamed in the light.

"_This is it! Number 5! I'm into the Grand Festival!_"

She almost didn't hear the question that Mr. Contesta asked her.

"Dawn, I understand this is your fifth contest ribbon?"

Dawn nodded. "Right!"

"That means the Grand Festival is your next stop. We'll all see you there!"

Dawn clasped the ribbon to her heart, beaming. "Thank you so much! I can't wait!"

Dawn walked out onto the center of the stage and turned to face the stands where Ash and Brock were sitting. She grinned as she spun, finishing with Ash's pose, holding the ribbon high in the air. "There's no need to worry, because the Daybreak ribbon is all mine!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil hopped behind her, crying out enthusiastically.

* * *

After the contest, Dawn changed back to her normal clothes and walked outside of the contest hall. Not seeing Ash, Brock or any of the Pokemon, she figured they were still inside and sat down on a nearby bench. As she stared at the sunset, she brought out her new ribbon and watched the clouds in the sky.

"_What a day. I've finally won my fifth ribbon! Although I couldn't have done it without Ash, he gave me the confidence to go through and win that final round. I don't know what I should do to thank him…_"

Suddenly Piplup jumped up onto the bench next to Dawn, and she felt Pikachu jump onto her shoulder. She scratched Pikachu under his chin and patted Piplup on the head and said, "Hey guys. Where are the others?"

"Right here," said a voice from behind Dawn.

Dawn turned around and saw her two best friends, and they were both grinning from ear to ear.

"Congratulations Dawn!" said Ash, extending his arms for emphasis.

"That's ribbon number five!" said Brock.

Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder, and Piplup climbed onto the newly vacated spot. Dawn stood up from the bench and grinned.

"Yep! It's all mine," she said, showing them the ribbon. "This ribbon is the best one of all!"

Piplup chirped happily, agreeing with Dawn.

Ash pumped his fists enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'm sure it is!"

Brock grinned at Dawn and said, "That was a great Flame-Ice. Perfect timing. It should come in handy in the Grand Festival."

Dawn nodded. "Thanks!"

She examined her fifth ribbon some more, then looked at the Pokemon on her shoulder. "It's all the way Piplup!"

"Pip-Lup!"

Dawn grinned, and then looked at Ash. "Now it's your turn to win at the Sunyshore gym! You ready for that?"

Ash nodded. "Sure! My eighth badge is waiting for me there!"

Dawn smiled. "And we'll be cheering for you, all the way!"

Brock smiled as he watched the two of them, then turned to Dawn. "I found a nice campsite on the road to Sunyshore City, how about a special meal as a treat for your fifth ribbon?"

Dawn grinned. "Sounds great!"

When they arrived at the campsite, Brock began to pull his pots and cooking gear out of his bag and said, "You guys just leave this to me, dinner will be ready in a flash!"

Ash grinned. "Sounds great Brock. I'll be training!"

He turned to go run out into the field, but Dawn grabbed his arm. "Ash, don't you think you could let up on the training for one day and help me set the table?"

Ash twisted his arm, trying to break free from Dawn's grasp, but she held fast. "Aww… Come on Dawn! We have a gym battle coming up! We have to train!"

Dawn sighed and said, "It won't kill you to help me for once."

Ash was about to complain again, then Dawn's last words hit him. "_For once… I guess she's still mad that I embarrassed her like that. I guess I owe her still, I hope she'll forgive me._"

Ash acquiesced, saying, "Okay, what should I do?"

Dawn, a little surprised by his sudden change-of-heart, handed him a blanket and said, "Um... Set this out with the Pokemon's food bowls."

Ash nodded and got to it.

* * *

After enjoying Brock's special dinner creations, Ash and Dawn were left to clear the table as Brock laid down in his sleeping bag and fell asleep soon after dinner.

Noticing this, Ash and Dawn just shared a laugh at this, recalled all their Pokemon, and cleared the table of dishes. After Ash put away the Pokemon's dishes, he noticed that Dawn was folding up the blanket, the only thing left, and pointed towards a nearby hill. "Hey Dawn?"

She looked up. "Yeah?"

"I'll be on that hill."

She nodded and went back to folding the blanket as Ash walked off to the hill, Pikachu following behind.

Ash sat on top of the hill, Pikachu on his shoulders, just thinking about the day's events and events to come.

Then he felt Dawn approach him, and she sat down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder to help lower herself to the ground.

Ash decided that, now was a good a time as any, and said, "Dawn?"

"Mhm?"

"I'd like to apologize."

Dawn looked at Ash, confused. "About what?"

Ash winced. "I feel really bad about not coming to see you before your final round. And then, if that wasn't bad enough, I ran into the front row and yelled out and embarrass you in front of all of those people. I'll understand if you're really angry at me."

Dawn wasn't sure what to say.

"_Does he really think that's his fault? He was the reason I __**stopped**__ being embarrassed. He's the reason I won the contest._"

Ash looked at Dawn, his eyes pleading. "Dawn, I don't like it when you're unhappy. Is there something I could do to make it up to you?"

Dawn looked at Ash straight in the eyes and said softly, "Ash, I'm not mad at you."

"Y-You're not?"

"No, of course not. Why would I be?"

"Well, I caused that big commotion at the contest, and yelled out to you."

"Ash."

"Huh?"

"You're the reason I won that contest. When I was feeling unconfident, you ran in, and gave me the confidence boost I needed to win. I admit, I was sad that you weren't there before the final round, but you can't be there all the time. You're the reason I was able to get up and finish that contest and win."

"R-Really?"

Dawn scooted closer to Ash. "Of course. That meant the world to me."

"_**You**__ mean the world to me_..." she thought.

Ash blushed, but in the light of the setting sun, Dawn didn't notice.

Dawn smiled. Then a thought occurred to her. "Incidentally, what **did **make you run down and cause all that trouble?" she teased.

Ash didn't answer immediately, looking thoughtful and scratching Pikachu's between his ears.

"Well, I was running up to the stands where Brock was, and I heard people talking about you, saying you looked bad."

Ash paused, noticing Pikachu was asleep and shifting him to his lap.

"I had to go see if you were alright, so I had a look, and you were lying on the floor. So I was worried."

Piplup, noticing the sleeping Pikachu, hopped out of Dawn's arms and sat next to Pikachu, falling asleep as well.

"I had to make sure you were alright, so I ran down and… I guess I just kind of forgot what I was doing and tried to encourage you…"

It was Dawn's turn to blush. Ash didn't notice, he was looking up towards the sky pensively.

Dawn wasn't sure what to say, so she just looked at Ash and weakly said, "Well… Thank you Ash."

Ash nodded, slightly embarrassed that he had told Dawn what he had been feeling at those moments.

Together they sat in silence, watching the sun's slow descent and the last rays of light illuminating the sky above.

Dawn was still stunned by Ash's words. "_I can't believe how sweet he is…_"

She was jolted out her thoughts by something warm and heavy falling onto her shoulder. She looked down and noticed Ash had fallen asleep and his head was now resting on her shoulder.

She smiled down at him, noticing he was cradling Piplup and Pikachu in his arms as the three of them slept.

"_Oh Ash…_"

He shuddered slightly, letting out a soft snore, then turned, his head falling into her lap. Pikachu and Piplup rolled out of his arms and landed between Dawn and Ash.

Dawn flinched, aware of his head lying on her bare legs. But then she smiled again, flattening her skirt, and softly pulled him closer to her, and began to absentmindedly stroke his hair with one of her hands.

"_I wish I knew what he was thinking. I mean, he's been acting different lately, but I don't know if that's just me._"

She looked back over to their campsite, the fire was dying down, casting a soft orange glow on Brock, the two empty sleeping bags and their tent.

"_I mean, I can't tell if he likes me, or if he's just being nice… I wish I knew…_"

She felt her eyes start to droop.

"_I really should be getting to sleep. But I can't wake Ash up… Maybe I can drag him over to the sleeping bags?_"

She looked down at Ash again and yawned.

"_Or… Maybe… I'll just bring the sleeping bags over here…_ _Yeah… I think…_"

She turned and laid down, setting her head on top of his chest. One of his arms found its way around her body, pulling her closer.

"_Actually… this is better…_"

"Good night… Ash…" she mumbled sleepily, drifting off into dreamland.

* * *

**Like I said, Ash is a little different this chapter. x). But I kind of enjoyed writing him like that. :P.**

**As always, please provide input and comments on this chapter. It's nice to know what I'm doing well at, at what I need to improve, so feel free to provide criticism/critique! :)  
**

**The gang's off to Sunyshore now! :D**

**Cheers! :)  
**


	10. Can't Wait for Eight

**Okay! It's the tenth chapter! :D**

**This chapter was extraordinarily difficult for me to write, and probably my first experience with real writer's block. Not just "Oh, I have no ideas" type, but even if I had ideas, I couldn't write. It was bad. And it was only the last section of this chapter too. Somehow I eventually got it though. D:  
**

**This may be the last update for awhile, because of looming school, so I apologize in advance.**

**This is the first chapter I've written in awhile where I actually came up with everything... so... :3.**

**Well, enjoy! :)  
**

* * *

Due to his early night, Brock was the first one up, rising before the sun was even visible in the early morning sky. There was enough light to see around, but everything was tinted grey in the low-light conditions.

"_I guess I'm the first one awake… As always,_" he thought. "_Well, I'd better start making breakfast before Ash gets up…"_

Brock yawned, looking around. "_Huh… Ash's sleeping bag is here, but he isn't… Come to think of it, neither is Dawn… I wonder where they've gone off to._"

He shuffled over to the tent, rubbing his eyes. "_Maybe they got cold and they're in here…?_"

He pulled the flap open and looked around. There was nothing inside but their bags and gear. Now he was really confused. "_Now where could they be…?_"

He walked back out of the tent. "_Oh well, maybe they're already up and they went exploring or something. I'll have breakfast ready for when they come back._"

He pulled his cooking pot out of his backpack, setting it above the burned remains of the campfire of the night before. "_Ugh… Gotta get more wood…_"

His hands drifted to his belt, grabbing Sudowoodo and Croagunk's Poke Balls. He threw them into the air, releasing the Pokemon inside. His Pokemon popped out, looking exactly how they felt: Tired, and annoyed at being woken up. Sudowoodo gave a sleepy salute, while Croagunk just stared at Brock, wordlessly conveying his dissatisfaction.

"Hey guys, sorry for waking you up, but would you help me get some more firewood?"

They both nodded, and they followed as Brock began to walk off towards a forest they had passed on the way to the campsite the day before.

After retrieving some firewood, Brock placed it around the ashes of the previous fire, and thanked his two Pokemon, returning them to their Poke Balls.

As he sat down with a box of matches to light the fire, his gaze drifted over the area and he noticed Ash and Dawn lying on top of a hill near the campsite.

"_Huh… Now that's weird. I wonder what they're doing up there._"

He stood up and called out, "Hey! Ash! Dawn! Whatcha doing?"

There was no answer.

"_Could they be still sleeping? I guess I'll go have a look._"

He walked over to the two. Because of the cold in the night, they had cuddled closer together for warmth and were sleeping in each other's arms, both smiling. Pikachu and Piplup were lying on either side of them.

Brock scratched his head. "_Is this really possible?_"

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, not believing what he was seeing. He sighed. "I guess it's too early… I think I'm going to go back to sleep, I'm starting to see things."

He walked back to his sleeping bag, crawled inside and closed his eyes. The last thing he thought before he drifted back to sleep was, "_What if?_"

A few minutes after Brock's visit, Dawn stirred and woke up, feeling the sun's first rays as it peeked over the horizon. She noticed she was still lying right next to Ash, with her head nestled between his head and his shoulder, and Ash had one of his arms around her. She noted that they were lying there with no sleeping bags, and were still wearing their traveling clothes. She shivered as a light breeze ran through the area, feeling like ice on her bare legs.

"_I guess I kind of forgot to bring the sleeping bags over… Oh well._"

She sat up, and looked back down at Ash. His hat had fallen off his head and the sleeping Pikachu was wearing it. His bangs were draped over one of his eyes, and as he breathed, the z's on his cheek twitched.

She smiled, brushing the hair lightly off of his face. Accomplishing this, she just watched him for a little while longer before the cold became impossible to ignore.

Seeking warmth, she lay back down next to him, blushing as she scooted herself so she was directly beside him. Unconsciously, his arm found its way around her again, and he pulled her closer, deepening her blush. She heated up near instantly, but she wasn't sure if it was just her cheeks or she was actually getting warmer.

"You're so cute," she said quietly.

Feeling that it was the right thing to do, she leaned down and lightly kissed Ash on the cheek. He smiled and muttered something in his sleep, and Dawn laughed to herself. But she immediately felt guilty when she felt him stir.

"_I hope I didn't wake him up…_"

Ash opened his eyes and looked at Dawn, yawning.

"Oh, hey Dawn!"

Dawn winced slightly, but Ash, rubbing his eyes with his free arm, didn't notice.

"Hey Ash… Um… Sleep well?"

"Yeah! I had a pretty awesome dream. I-"

He paused, noticing the position they were in, and blushed, quickly removing his arm from around Dawn. Then he shot up to a sitting position, Dawn following suit more slowly. It was only then that Ash noticed where they were.

"Huh? We're still on this hill? I must have fallen asleep here…"

He blushed again, wondering if, during the night, he had unconsciously put an arm around Dawn and trapped her with him for the night.

"I'm so sorry Dawn," he said, "I hope you weren't cold or anything, sleeping out here."

She blushed again. "_I wasn't… You kept me warm…_" she thought.

"Oh no, I was okay."

Ash smiled with relief. "That's good."

Dawn's eyes wandered back over to the campsite, noticing that Brock was not yet awake.

Ash picked up some grass from the ground and began to twirl it beneath his fingers absentmindedly. He looked up towards the sky, his mind beginning to wander. "_I can't remember what I was doing last night that we ended up on this hill…_"

"Ash?"

"_Oh right. We were sitting there, watching the sunset… I guess I just… Fell asleep…_"

"ASH!"

Ash jumped.

"Oh hi!" he said dumbly.

Dawn couldn't help it. She broke down laughing, and had to grab onto Ash's shoulder for support.

Ash scratched his head, confused and embarrassed. "What? Did I miss something?"

Dawn recovered, coughing, and said, "No, no. You're just too funny."

Ash nodded slowly, still not understanding. "Uh, okay then. Did you need something?"

"Oh, yeah. I think we should go back to the sleeping bags and pretend to sleep, before Brock wakes up and gets worried."

A smile slowly spread across Ash's face. "Makes sense."

He jumped to his feet and held out his hand to help Dawn up. She grasped it and allowed him to pull her up, her cheeks heating up for the brief moment that they held hands.

They picked up their still sleeping Pokemon and walked back over to their sleeping bags. Ash set Pikachu down next to him, then climbed into his sleeping bag, winked and said, "Well, good night Dawn."

Dawn laughed and set Piplup down next to Pikachu, then climbed into hers as well, closing her eyes just as she heard Brock start moving around.

Brock opened his eyes, and blinking in the light of the sun, climbed out of his sleeping bag. He looked over towards the other two sleeping bags and laughed.

"I guess it was good I went back to sleep. I knew that I was seeing things," he muttered, walking off to get breakfast ready.

Ash rolled over in his sleeping bag and looked towards Dawn. He grinned and Dawn gave him a wink in return.

Dawn scooted slightly closer and whispered, "I'll get up first… You usually wake up later…"

She crawled out of her sleeping bag, greeted Brock, made a big show of stretching and yawning, and then walked into the tent to fix her bed-head. Piplup woke up and followed her into the tent.

Ash watched through half-closed eyes as Brock pulled out the cooking pot and set it up above the fire. Pikachu, who had just woken up, looked at him questioningly, but Ash raised a finger to his lip to signal him to keep quiet. Pikachu ran off to the tent, and soon he and Piplup emerged and went to play in the field around the campsite.

As Brock sat down to light the campfire, Ash decided that he could get up, and pulled himself out of his sleeping bag.

Brock looked over at him. "Morning Ash." He noticed his clothes. "You too?"

Ash scratched his head. "Huh?"

Brock gestured towards him. "Your clothes. You're still wearing your traveling gear. Dawn was too."

Ash nodded. "I guess I was just… Kinda tired last night."

Brock laughed. "You and me both."

Ash was relieved that Brock accepted his excuse, and decided to help set out the Pokemon's food bowls. He turned and picked up the blanket for the Pokemon to sit on while they ate.

As he was setting it out, Brock said, "You know, I had a weird dream last night."

Ash looked up. "What was it?"

Brock laughed. "Well, I guess it was more of like a hallucination."

Ash finished spreading out the blanket and turned back to get the food bowls. Dawn emerged from the tent and smiled at Ash. "Good morning Ash."

"Hey Dawn. Brocko was saying he had a hallucination this morning."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "What was it?"

Brock threw some ingredients into the pot, then sat down, looking pensive. "Well, I woke up early this morning and went to go some wood for the fire, and I passed by that hill over there."

He gestured towards the hill that Ash and Dawn had spent the night on. Ash and Dawn looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. "_Uh-oh…_"

Brock went on, not looking towards Ash and Dawn, just watching the stew pot. "When I passed by it, I could've sworn I saw you two cuddling each other in your sleep."

Ash and Dawn both paled. Brock laughed to himself. "But I think my mind was just making me see things. I went back to sleep after that. Hallucinating's never good."

He turned back around. "You guys have any crazy dreams?"

Ash immediately began setting out the bowls, pointedly not looking at Brock, while Dawn busied herself with intently staring at her bootlaces.

"Something wrong?"

Ash laughed, a little more strained and higher-pitched than usual. "Oh, no, no. That's pretty weird Brock."

"Yeah, maybe you need some more rest Brock," Dawn chimed in.

Brock was confused, but just said, "I guess so…" and turned back towards the stew pot.

The day's breakfast was a relatively one-sided affair. After releasing their Pokemon, Ash and Dawn, both embarrassed that Brock had seen them and relieved he didn't make anything out of it, merely nodded or agreed with everything Brock said, feeling their voices might betray them if they talked too much.

"So, if we leave right after breakfast, hopefully we'll get to Sunyshore by late afternoon."

"Okay."

"Gotcha."

"If we just follow this road out, it'll lead us straight there."

"Alright."

"Sounds good."

Brock was slowly getting more and more confused. "_I think they're trying to play a trick on me or something…_"

He studied them carefully. Ash was eating his breakfast, and looking intently into his bowl of stew as if the most valuable item in the world were inside, and Dawn was watching the Pokemon and fiddling with her hair clips.

"_It'd be just like them to do something like that…_"

He shrugged it off and stood up. Ash and Dawn turned to look at him. "Well, after you guys finish eating, let's get going. If we get there early enough, maybe we'll have time to go find the gym."

Ash grinned, both from excitement and relief that Brock seemed to be off the subject of his dream. "My eighth gym badge is waiting for me there!"

He quickly finished the rest of his breakfast, then jumped up and walked over to the Pokemon.

"Ready to get our eighth badge guys?"

His Pokemon cheering enthusiastically, and he grinned.

"Alright! Let's go then!"

He returned his Pokemon to their Poke Balls, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder as Piplup climbed into Dawn's arms. Dawn recalled the rest of her Pokemon, and then they folded up the blanket and stacked the food dishes, carrying them over to Brock.

Brock pulled down his stew pot from above the fire, then took the blanket and dishes from Ash and Dawn and put everything into his backpack. He shouldered it and turned back to Ash and Dawn.

"Ready to hit the road?"

Ash grinned. "You bet!"

"Dawn?"

She nodded, laughing. "Of course."

Ash ran up onto the main road that would take them to Sunyshore and began gesturing wildly down it. "Well let's get going then!"

Dawn and Brock rolled their eyes and began to follow him.

On the trip down the road, Ash alternated between running so far ahead that Dawn and Brock couldn't see him and being spent from running and sitting down on the side of the road to rest, allowing Dawn and Brock to catch up with him.

After several hours of this game of traveling catch-up, Brock, thoroughly exhausted from the run, grabbed Ash's arm as he got up to run again.

Ash stared at Brock, who was sweating profusely and panting. "Something wrong?"

Brock took a deep breath and said, "Well, we've been running to Sunyshore the whole morning and we're all tired. Don't you think we should take a break?"

Ash opened his mouth to protest, but Brock quickly said, "We could eat lunch if you want."

Ash was tempted by the offer, but the allure of his eighth badge was outweighing his love for food.

He looked at Brock, who was still breathing deeply, and had removed a water bottle from his backpack to drink. Brock slumped down to a sitting position next to Dawn, who joined him on the ground. Dawn had not said anything the whole morning, feeling that Ash's happiness was worth the weariness, but at this point, felt like she was going to collapse.

Ash immediately felt a pang of remorse. He hadn't meant to hurt his friends, especially Dawn, and he had to admit, he was pretty tired too. He was just excited for his upcoming gym battle. The temptation to sit down and eat lunch was great, but he decided to try to convince them one last time.

"Can't we eat while we walk?"

His appeal fell on deaf ears. Brock and Dawn had already pulled out the blanket and sat down and began to eat sandwiches that Brock had made for days when they were on the road.

Ash sighed. "Guys?"

Dawn grabbed a sandwich off the plate and stood up and walked over to Ash. She held out the sandwich and said, "You know you're hungry. Why not just sit down and eat? The Sunyshore Gym isn't going anywhere."

Ash arm twitched involuntarily towards the sandwich. "But I want to go get my eighth badge…" he whined, almost pleading with himself.

Dawn smiled to herself. "_That is so him..._"

She walked right up to him, coming so close that they could almost feel the other's breath. Ash's shuddered slightly and reddened at the proximity of their bodies, but didn't draw back. She turned one of his hands so it was facing up and placed the sandwich into his open palm, then grabbed his other hand and gently pulled him over to where Brock and the rest of the sandwiches were.

Ash offered no resistance, and once he and Dawn had sat back down, he turned to look at the sandwich in his hand. He slowly took a bite, but the small taste only made him more hungry, and he quickly consumed the rest of the sandwich.

When he looked up to grab another one off of the tray, he noticed Dawn and Brock watching him with amused looks on their faces.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

Dawn and Brock laughed.

"So you **were **hungry after all," said Brock.

"Well, yeah… I just wanted my badge…"

Dawn laughed again and held out the plate of sandwiches. "Here."

Ash accepted them gratefully and tucked into his lunch.

Dawn and Brock watched him in amazement for a few minutes, before realizing that they were hungry too, and liberated several sandwiches from Ash's assault on the plate.

Dawn finished eating first, and amused herself by watching Ash eat the sandwiches.

As he bit into the sandwiches, a bit of meat from inside the sandwich flew out and landed right on the bridge of his nose. He felt it, but due to its location, couldn't see it, and dropped the sandwich, flailing his arms around, trying to get it off of his nose.

Dawn giggled and put a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Calm down, let me get it."

She leaned over towards him and flicked the piece off of his nose and sat back, grinning at him.

"Better?"

Ash nodded, his cheeks faintly tinted red. "Thanks Dawn."

After their lunch, the group resumed their walk towards Sunyshore City, this time at a much more relaxed pace.

Brock passed the time on the walk by reading a recipe book, and Ash and Dawn chatted the whole way. Pikachu and Piplup started out with their owners, but got bored just tagging along and jumped onto the ground and ran alongside their trainers.

Eventually, by the afternoon, the buildings on the outskirts of Sunyshore City could be seen.

"Here we are!" yelled Ash exuberantly, jumping into the air. Pikachu raised his right paw in celebration.

Dawn just shook her head, but looking at the city, she couldn't help but be amazed.

The city was a spectacle of modern technology. Every building's roof was lined with solar panels, and the sidewalks moved along in different directions, color-coded to tell you where they were headed. Several robots scooted up and down these sidewalks, sweeping, picking up litter, and doing other upkeep duties. The highest point in the city was a large tower covered entirely with blue glass panels.

Ash grinned, taking in the scenery. "Now, I wonder where that gym is…"

* * *

**Alright, finally! Gotten them to Sunyshore. **

**I'm expecting Ash v Volkner to be two parts too, like the Dawn v Ursula battle. Probably some pre-battle stuff, similar to the Flint appearances in the anime and games. We'll see. I'm planning to try to write the battle myself though, with only a few elements from the actual episodes. :D.**

**Please, as always, leave your input on this chapter, whether it be good or bad, it's always nice to know what I'm doing well at, and what to work on. :)**

**Cheers! :D  
**


	11. Ready or Not, Here We Go!

**Well, hello readers! :D. This is the first chapter in awhile because of school, so I apologize.**

**As much as I'd like to say that I wrote this chapter all by myself, there are some scenery elements and descriptions taken from DP165 (Flint Sparks the Fire). But I wrote everything else myself. :).**

**Enjoy! :D  
**

* * *

Brock dropped to one knee and unslung his backpack from his shoulders. Placing it on the ground, he unzipped the main pocket and removed a Sunyshore City guide book.

He began to thumb through it. "So… We're on the west side of the city…"

Ash was only half-listening, finding the contents of Brock's backpack more interesting. He sat down next to it and began to shift through its contents. Pikachu and Piplup jumped off their trainer's shoulders to the ground, associating Brock's backpack with food.

"Whoa, Brock, you kept this Olivine City tour book?"

Brock looked up from the Sunyshore one and glanced at the gold-colored book Ash was holding. "Mm. Yeah. I keep all of them, just in case."

Dawn sat down next to Ash, now intrigued. Wondering what other cities Brock (and Ash) had been to in the past, she stuck her hand into the backpack and picked a random book. Choosing one, she grabbed it and pulled out a small blue book.

"Hmm, what's this?"

Brock looked down. "Oh. Err. That's a guide book too."

Ash looked at it and laughed in recognition. "Oh, that's a guide book alright!"

"Hmm, I wonder where for…" Dawn muttered, opening to a random page.

She raised an eyebrow at the first page, and as she flipped through the book's pages, she sweatdropped.

"Brock, this is a listing of woman and their locations and interests."

Brock grinned. "You got it! It's the best kind of guide book."

He leaned over and took it from Dawn's hands, flipping through the pages, his eyes shining as he reminisced. Dawn sighed and Ash chucked slightly, picking up the discarded Sunyshore guide book.

He flipped through the pages to a fold-out map, and unfolded it. Dawn stood up and looked at it with him.

"Alright," said Ash, his eyes scanning the map, "So our destination is…"

"Here!" he and Dawn said at the same time, simultaneously pointing at the map.

Then they realized that they were pointing at different places.

"Um. Dawn, you know you're pointing at the Pokemon Center, right?"

"Yep."

"Uh… We're going to the gym, you know that right?"

"No. We're going to the Pokemon Center. It's getting late, and it's dinnertime. It won't kill you to wait until tomorrow."

As if emphasizing her point, the sun dropped lower and became obscured by a cloud, darkening the landscape. Pikachu and Piplup, giving up their search for food, walked over to Ash and tugged on his pants legs.

Brock snapped out of his reverie and replaced the book in his backpack, shouldering it. "I agree with Dawn, we really should eat and get some rest."

"Oh come on!" Ash whined.

"You can go by yourself if you want," said Brock, irritably.

Ash's eyes widened. "_They wouldn't, would they?_"

Dawn was reluctant too. "_We couldn't, I couldn't just let him go off to the gym battle like that. Not after what he did for me at the contest!_"

She opened her mouth to say something, but Brock put a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Let's just go. He won't go off alone. He'll follow us."

Dawn was still hesitant, but Brock began to walk off towards the Pokemon Center, saying, "Alright Ash, we'll see you at the Center. Tell us how you do!"

Dawn followed slowly, looking back over her shoulder at Ash. Piplup left Ash's feet and followed, but Pikachu and Ash both stared at Dawn and Brock with desolate looks on their faces. Dawn hoped dearly that Brock was right, it hurt her to see Ash like that. She wanted to run over and drag Ash back with them, but her head told her not to.

Ash watched them depart, and just as they began to turn the corner onto a different street, he yelled, "Fine! Maybe I will!" and turned towards the location of the gym.

Pikachu hopped back onto Ash's shoulder, and tugged at his ear as he walked. "Pikapi?"

Ash let out a big sigh. "I'm fine… I just…"

He couldn't bring himself to finish and continued walking. Pikachu stared worriedly at his trainer, but said nothing.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize how far he had walked until he walked right into the Sunyshore gym front door. Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder expectantly.

Ash stood stock-still, staring straight at the door. His right hand found its way to his Poke Balls. As he rolled his fingers across the cold metal of the Poke Balls, his hand lingered over Buizel's Poke Ball.

"_Buizel… Dawn…_"

He closed his eyes and found he couldn't even remember the last time Dawn wasn't cheering for him in a battle. It just made him glow inside, an inner feeling of warmth that nothing could match. And for once, for the first time in awhile, it was gone. It made him feel strangely unconfident.

He squared his shoulders, shuddering involuntarily. Pikachu looked up at him.

"I'm not giving up now," he said, as much to convince himself as Pikachu.

He slowly reached out for the door's handle. As he grasped the handle of the door, he looked up at the gym itself.

"_Blue…_" he thought. "_The gym doors._"

A picture of Dawn appeared in his mind before slowly fading, the blue of her eyes fading into the color of the gym doors.

Suddenly, his grip slackened, and he let go of the door, his arm dropping limply to his side.

"Pikapi!"

Ash shook his head slowly.

"I can't do it. I just can't. I'll go back tomorrow."

With this, he stood up and walked back towards the Pokemon Center.

Brock looked at Dawn across their table at the Pokemon Center. Piplup had steered them straight into the dining room when they arrived, and he and Brock had happily tucked into a much-needed meal, but Dawn wasn't eating much.

The tines of her fork made a soft clinking noise as she absentmindedly tapped her fork on her plate, staring wistfully at the doors of the Pokemon Center.

Brock watched her guiltily, knowing exactly why she was acting like that. He too, felt guilty leaving Ash to go on his own, but he had been sure that Ash would have come with them. He glanced at the doors of the Pokemon Center just in time to see them pushed open, and a familiar hat-clad figure shuffled in.

Dawn's eyes lit up and she jumped out of her seat. Pikachu, sensing impending danger, quickly hopped off of Ash's shoulder and hurried over to the table to sit next to Piplup.

Dawn threw her arms around Ash's neck, pulling him close. Ash blushed slightly as Dawn tucked her head between his shoulder and head, but put one arm around her awkwardly.

Dawn held on for a second longer before growing self-conscious and removing herself from Ash. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading, "I'm so sorry for leaving you! It's just that, we were so sure you'd come along with us!"

Ash was tempted to reject her apology, but the feeling of Dawn's arms around him still lingered, and the warmth of being back with her and Brock flooded into him. He smiled. "It's fine. I didn't battle anyway."

Then he grinned. "Anyways, you guys were right. I am kind of hungry…"

It was soon apparent what "kind of" meant, as a full and contented Ash slumped into his seat, several empty plates stacked on the table.

Brock stared at Ash. His guilt had previously overcome his curiosity, but after apologizing to Ash during dinner, he couldn't help asking.

"Hey Ash."

"Yeah Brocko?"

"Why didn'tyou have your Gym battle?"

Whatever question Ash had been expecting, this was not it.

"Uhh…" His eyes drifted over Dawn. "Well… I'm not sure really…"

To his immense relief, Brock and Dawn accepted his explanation and merely nodded confusedly. "Well, okay," said Brock. "We're glad you came back though. We'll be cheering for you tomorrow."

Ash grinned. "Thanks. I'm kinda tired after all that eating. I'm going to hit the sack."

Dawn nodded. "Sounds good. I'm kinda tired too, I'll come."

Brock's eyes drifted towards the main desk of Pokemon Center, where Nurse Joy was talking to another trainer. "I'll… Be up later…"

Ash and Dawn looked at Brock and sighed, walking up to their room. When they got there, Ash immediately threw himself into his bed, Pikachu jumping off his shoulder just in time and crawling onto his pillow. Dawn set Piplup down on her bed, then picked up her nightgown. Ash took off his hat, then threw it haphazardly into the room, nearly hitting Dawn, who was walking to the bathroom to change.

Pikachu, not at all very tired, grew bored, and picked up a pillow and dropped it on his trainer's face.

Ash jumped up. "Oh, you wanna play that game?"

He picked up another pillow and dropped it on Pikachu's head. Soon, an all-out pillow fight had started. Piplup, hearing the commotion, immediately jumped into Ash's bed and joined the pillow fight, dragging the two pillows from Dawn's bed along.

When Dawn got out of the bathroom, she sat down on her bed and watched them fight for a bit. Then she turned and looked out towards the Sunyshore City night sky, the moonlight reflecting off the many solar panels and causing the buildings of the city to shine with a blue glow.

As she looked across the city, she suddenly felt her bed dip slightly and she looked down.

Ash was lying on her bed next to her, his feet dangling off the edge. Both of his eyes were closed and his forehead was glistening with sweat. Back on his bed, Pikachu and Piplup were still smacking each other with pillows. Feathers were beginning to fly around the room.

"Wow," Ash groaned, wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt. "Those two have a lot of energy. I'm wiped!"

Dawn giggled.

Ash lay there for a little longer before pushing himself up and hopping out of the bed. He picked up his nightclothes and wandered off to the bathroom to change. Dawn's eyes followed him as he walked into the bathroom, then she looked back over at Ash's bed, where Pikachu and Piplup were now sleeping in between two flattened and battered-looking pillows.

"_Well, I guess that's a way to prepare for a gym battle too…_"

Her eyes drifted to his hat, which was lying on top of her bag.

"_I wonder why he came back…_"

Engrossed in her thoughts, she vaguely noticed Ash coming out of the bathroom. His mouth moved, but no words registered to her.

"_I'm glad though. I felt so bad leaving him there…_ _I hope he doesn't think that I didn't want to cheer for him or something…_"

With a pang of guilt, she thought, "_I bet he felt how I felt when I thought he had given up on me at the contest. And I doubted him there…_"

"Dawn?"

Dawn jumped.

"Something wrong Dawn?"

Ash was sitting next to her on the bed again. He was looking at her curiously.

"Oh no," said Dawn, smiling nervously, "No need to worry, right?"

Ash nodded slowly. "I guess…"

He undid his belt and set all of his Poke Balls in his hat, putting this into his backpack. Dawn watched him, then said, "Ash, why **did **you come back?"

Ash sat back on the bed. He wasn't quite sure why himself. "Well, I guess I just… Wasn't ready," he said, truthfully.

Dawn opened her mouth to ask exactly what he meant when he spoke again. This time it was quieter though, so she unconsciously leaned over closer to him to hear.

"I just felt like… There was something missing."

Dawn shifted guiltily on the bed, but Ash suddenly smiled.

"Oh well! There's always tomorrow, and I'm all ready now!"

With this, he walked back over to his bed and climbed under the blankets. Pushing the sleeping Pikachu and Piplup up to the head of the bed, he laid down and let out a contented sigh. Getting comfortable, he turned to Dawn and said, "Good night Dawn. See ya tomorrow!"

"Night Ash."

With this, Ash rolled over, and soon his soft snores filled the air.

Dawn smiled, watching Ash for a few minutes, then removed her own Poke Ball belt and walked over to her backpack to put it and her traveling clothes in. As she shifted the backpack's contents to make space for the clothes and Poke Balls, something pink caught her eye.

"_I still need to think of some way to make it up to Ash for leaving him there… Huh? What's this?_"

She tugged at it. It was obviously some kind of clothing, being soft and flexible, but it wasn't her contest dress, which she kept in a cardboard box, or her normal skirts, which were made of a different material. It was trapped under something, so she shook her backpack and pulled it out.

It was a skirt and top, tied together by a white ribbon. She pulled the ribbon off of it and examined it. The top had blue and white v-shaped stripes at the top half of it, and the bottom of the skirt had alternating white and pink sections.

"_Wow. I haven't seen this since Veilstone City..."_

She carefully folded it back up and tied it again.

"_I know what to do now!_"

Contented by this, she climbed back into her bed and soon fell asleep, not hearing Brock get dragged in by Croagunk only a few minutes later.

* * *

The next morning, after the group had woken up, they had all gone down to eat breakfast together. Ash ate at his usual frenetic pace, then rushed out to give one last minute pep talk to his Pokemon. Dawn kept obsessing over her hair and diving at her bag to make sure something was still there. Brock just watched the antics of his two friends bemusedly.

After finishing their breakfast, Dawn and Brock walked outside to join Ash. He was standing in front of the Pokemon Center, and as they walked out, he recalled all of his Pokemon, Pikachu jumping to his customary spot on his shoulder.

"Hey Ash," said Dawn. "You all ready for your gym battle?"

"Yep!" said Ash enthusiastically, "Me and my Pokemon are all fired up! Isn't that right Pikachu?"

"Pika, Pika!"

Dawn laughed at their bravado. "Have you decided who to use?"

Ash frowned. "No, actually. I don't know what type of Pokemon this gym leader uses. I'll decide when we get there."

Dawn nodded and Brock said, "Well, I looked on the map. There's a shortcut to the gym past the Sunyshore Tower. Ready to go guys?"

Ash nodded. "Ready!"

On the walk, Brock began to poke through his guide book, and turned to the page about Sunyshore's gym.

"Hey, Ash."

"Yeah?"

"I've got it. It says that the gym leader's name is Volkner, and he uses Electric type Pokemon."

Ash nodded, his head turning down as he thought. "Electric, huh?"

On the walk to the gym, Ash picked up some of his Poke Balls, rotating them around, switching hands, before selecting two of them and placing them in his hands. He put them all back on his belt and nodded to himself. He was ready.

When they arrived in front of the gym, Ash grinned to himself. Pikachu looked at his trainer scratched his head. He could tell his trainer was a ton more confident, but wasn't exactly sure what brought the new confidence on.

Brock grinned. "You ready? Chosen your Pokemon?"

Ash nodded. "Of course."

He turned towards the gym and called out, "Volkner! I'm here for a gym battle!"

There was no answer.

"Hmm. Ash, maybe you didn't yell loud enough?" suggested Brock.

"I guess so," said Ash, before yelling, "I'm here for a gym battle!"

There was still no answer.

Ash walked up to the gym and tugged on the doors. They were locked and didn't budge.

Dawn looked at the gym confusedly. "Ash, was it like this when you went yesterday?"

Ash flinched. "Yesterday? Oh… Err…"

He hesitated before saying, "Well, the truth is, I didn't actually get here yesterday. I got hungry and turned around."

"Oh, okay."

Ash turned back to the door and knocked on it.

There was a beeping noise and a click. A small screen lit up above the door.

A mechanical voice said, "Hello, and welcome to the Sunyshore Gym. We are pleased that you have chosen to visit us today."

A mechanical arm popped out and pointed towards an object that Ash had earlier thought was a trash can. "Please help yourself to a complimentary badge from the bin over there. Have a nice day."

The screen flickered off. The three of them walked to the bin and looked inside.

"Wow," said Dawn, "It's filled with badges!"

Brock picked one up and examined it. "Seems real," he said, throwing it back into the bin. "I wonder why they would just let you take one though..."

Dawn scratched her head. "Well, if they're just there, might as well take one…"

Ash glared at the bin. "No. The point of a badge is that you earn it after a battle with the gym leader. Otherwise, what's the point?"

He walked back up to the door and banged on it. "Let me in! Where's the gym leader?"

The screen flickered on again and the mechanical voice said sternly, "Please, do not attempt to access the gym by force. If you continue, you will be removed."

Ash glared at the door again and said, "Fine then."

He backed up, then ran at the door and slammed into it. This effort falling flat, he backed up again and said, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu's tail glowed and he ran at the door, Ash following close behind. They both slammed into the door together, but nothing happened.

The voice spoke again. "Intruder. You will now be escorted off of the premises."

Ash and Pikachu backed up from the door. "Wait! Where is Volkner anyway?"

Two mechanical hands picked up him and Pikachu. "The gym leader is currently in the Sunyshore Tower. Thank you for visiting. Goodbye."

With this, the hands threw Ash and Pikachu over a small hedgerow into a field near the gym.

Dawn and Brock ran over. "Ash! Are you alright?"

Ash and Pikachu picked themselves up, dusting themselves off and glaring back in the direction of the gym. "Yeah, we're fine."

Brock said, "That voice said that Volkner was in the-"

"Sunyshore Tower," finished Ash. "Let's go."

The Sunyshore Tower was not hard to locate, being the tallest building in Sunyshore city, and being covered completely in blue glass panels. The tower front desk was empty, but all of the doors were unlocked and the elevators were running.

They all climbed into one of the elevators, and pressed the only available button, causing it to rise slowly towards the top of the tower. Because of the glass exterior, they were afforded a view of Sunyshore city from above.

"Wow," said Dawn, "All of the buildings have solar panels on them."

Brock looked in his guidebook again. "Apparently, the electricity for the whole city is generated from here in this tower, and the gym leader, Volkner, built it!"

"Wow," said Ash. "I wonder where he gets all of that free time… Must not be many challengers around here…"

The elevator suddenly stopped, and the doors opened.

Ash, Dawn and Brock stepped out of the elevator, and into the tower's top floor observatory. The observatory had floor length glass windows, and they were curved out, allowing one to take a step onto the glass, with only the glass and the ground below.

Dawn and Brock walked up the glass and looked out on the city below.

"Wow! Look at the view!"

Ash gave it a quick look. "It's nice… But where's the gym leader?"

He began to walk around the observatory deck, and just passed a room labeled "CONTROL", when he heard a voice from inside the room.

"I can't believe you! What happened to the Volkner I used to know?" it exclaimed.

Another voice, soft and bored, spoke as well. "Flint, if you just came here to lecture me, you're wasting your time."

Ash grinned. "So Volkner's in there!" he said to Pikachu.

He walked up and knocked on the door. He heard a gasp, and then the sound of a chair being knocked over and feet moving.

The door opened to reveal a tall man with red hair. He was wearing a yellow shirt and baggy grey pants. He had a red belt with two long suspender straps hanging from the sides of it. He ran a hand through his afro, looking down at Ash curiously. Sitting in the room behind him was a bored looking man with spiky blonde hair. He was wearing a blue military-style jacket and had similar pants to the man at the door. He looked up at Ash, his eyes betraying only mild interest.

"Hey kid. Need something?"

Ash grinned back. "Yes I do."

He pointed at Volkner. "I came here to challenge him to a gym battle."

* * *

**Alrighty! It's set up. The first part of Ash v Volkner is to come. :D**

**I'm planning to write that battle in a similar fashion to how I wrote this chapter. People who have viewed the episodes where Ash and Volkner battle will recognize some elements of it, but it will be overall original writing. :).**

**As always, please give your input and opinions on this chapter, whether they're compliments or criticism. They're both equally appreciated.**

**Cheers!**


	12. Battling Expectations

**... I really blame school for the delay of this chapter.**

**The descriptions in this chapter is largely based off of DP165 (Flint Sparks the Fire), DP166 (The Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore), and DP179 (currently undubbed). I won't tell you what exactly those descriptions are though, you can find that out yourself by reading. :D**

**I'd also like to thank you for your reviews, some of the decisions of what to write this chapter were based on what you've said, so thanks again.**

**This is the longest chapter in this story so far too, by over 800 words. :D.**

**As for Ash and Dawn themselves, I'm afraid this chapter is more subtle in terms of that... You'll see what I mean.**

**That's enough from me though, so enjoy! :D  
**

* * *

Flint blinked. "Really now."

Ash was slightly offended by his tone, but chose to ignore it as a grin slowly spread across Flint's face.

"Well well. This is certainly a development isn't it? I'm Flint, by the way."

"I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu." Pikachu waved at Flint from his trainer's shoulder.

Flint smiled and thought, "_You may be just what we need…_"

He turned back around and walked back into the room, looking down at the other man, who Ash assumed was 'Volkner'.

"What'dya say Volkner?"

Ash turned towards him expectantly, but the response was one of obvious disinterest.

Addressing Flint, he said, "I told you no." He turned to Ash. "Sorry, but I'm not interested."

Ash was taken aback.

"Well, why not?"

Volkner sighed deeply and turned away, leaning his head on his hands. There was a short silence before he said quietly, "It's a long story."

Ash grinned and walked into the room. "I've got time. I want my eighth badge!"

Volkner cursed silenty and mentally slapped himself. This was **not **the response he had wanted or expected. This kid was persistent, he'd give him that.

As Flint sat down next to Volkner and watched him, waiting, Volkner decided to try a different tactic.

"Did you stop by the gym?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You saw the badges?"

"Yeah…" Ash nodded slowly, wondering where the conversation was headed.

"Well, why didn't you take one?" Volkner lifted his head up slightly and looked at Ash, reluctantly curious of his reasoning.

"_Of course, he could just be really stupid,_" Volkner reminded himself before Ash answered.

"That's not how it works."

Volkner's raised an eyebrow, every part of him except his mouth now expressing his curiosity.

"A badge is something that shows that you fought and won a battle with a gym leader. It's a mark of you and your Pokemon's skill and bond. It's not something you should just hand out."

Flint nodded, impressed, when another voice suddenly said, "That's right."

All three of them turned towards the doorway, and Brock and Dawn walked in.

Dawn smiled at Ash. "Hey! We were wondering where you'd gone to. You just suddenly disa-"

She stopped, noticing Flint and Volkner.

Flint gave a small smile and waved. "Hey there, I'm Flint."

Dawn waved back. "Hello! I'm Ash's friend Dawn!"

Brock nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm Brock."

Volkner gave no greeting, the only indication that he noticed the new visitors was his eyes. His gaze began to travel over Dawn slowly, giving her the impression she was being x-rayed.

Ash, following his eyes to Dawn, felt a strange possessive urge, and shuffled to the side protectively so that he was in front of her. The action was not missed on Volkner, who stared at Ash and cracked a small smile for about half a second before examining Brock instead.

Ash, noticing Volkner's redirected stare, felt slightly embarrassed and self-conscious and blushed, scooting back to his original spot.

Breaking the short silence, Brock said, "Anyways, I agree with Ash. The point of a gym badge is to display accomplishment. Otherwise, what's the point?"

Flint nodded and all three of them looked at Volkner, who turned his head away again.

"I told you. I'm not interested. Battling challengers in gym battles is too simple and boring."

Everyone but Flint gave him a questioning look after this statement. "What?"

Volkner gave a heavy sigh.

"I have yet to face a challenger with either the kind of strength, enthusiasm or perseverance that it takes to win a gym badge from me, or at least give me a decent battle. So why bother? I haven't lost in my five years as the Sunyshore Gym leader."

Ash grinned.

"Well that's why I'm here. Just give me a battle, please?"

Volkner sighed again.

"I said no."

Ash slumped his shoulders, but Volkner shifted back to face Ash and opened his eyes very slightly.

"Just wondering though, how did you know I was up here?"

"The gym told us."

"The gym told you?"

"Yeah," said Dawn. "He tried to get into the gym by forcing the doors open, but it kicked him out and told him you were up here."

Volkner's eyes opened fully, but he said nothing.

Flint laughed and said, "Well, you're certainly a reckless one, aren't you?"

Ash just scratched his head, Pikachu mirroring his move.

Flint looked at Volkner and said, "Hey, this kid's got spirit, don't you think?"

Volkner shrugged. "Honestly, nothing tells me that he's not weak like all of my other challengers."

Ash stiffened at this jab, Paul's insults ringing through his head like a bell.

Volkner turned away again. "I'd like you to leave."

Ash slumped his shoulders and slowly turned away, beginning to shuffle towards the doorway, head tilted down. Brock patted him on the back.

"There's other gyms we can go to Ash, don't worry. There's still plenty of time before the Sinnoh League."

Ash nodded sadly as they turned to leave. Dawn watched him sympathetically, wishing there was something she could do to make him feel better. Then, as they began to leave, she looked back towards Volkner and Flint and suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, Ash!"

"Yeah Dawn?"

She pointed to herself. "How about you battle me, then you can show Volkner how strong you are!"

Ash grinned and nodded, but then looked at Volkner who just shrugged one shoulder and said nothing.

However, Flint jumped up off the table and grinned and Volkner.

"I like that idea. But how about **I **battle Ash instead?"

This got Volkner's attention and he spun around.

"Flint, are you serious?"

Flint grinned and nodded. "Of course!"

He turned towards Ash. "You ready to show me your stuff?"

Ash, still comprehending the new situation, looked blank for a second, then smiled and said, "Of course I am!"

Flint nodded and said, "Hey Volkner, we're going to use your gym field okay?"

Volkner nodded slowly, still shocked at the recent events. His friend obviously thought that this kid was worthy enough to battle, so perhaps he'd watch the battle…

"Yeah… I'll come too."

Flint raised an eyebrow, and Volkner quickly said, "To let you in, of course."

Flint smirked. He knew he had Volkner then. He knew that Volkner knew that he had a key to get into the gym, he didn't need Volkner to come along to get in. But even knowing this, he was coming anyway. Sooner or later, he was going to give the kid his gym battle.

To break the silence, because Ash, Dawn and Brock were looking at them confusedly, Volkner quickly said, "Well, off to the gym then?"

Ash nodded happily and they rode the elevator down to the ground floor and began walking to the gym.

Brock and Flint led the way, finding common ground in discussing some of their favorite topics, like Pokemon care, League politics and women. Ash and Dawn followed behind them, discussing the battle to come. Ash was enthusing to Dawn about the prospect of seeing the inside of the gym and wondering what Pokemon to use. Dawn just listened to his excitement amusedly and thought about her preparations, wondering whether or not to save them.

Along the way, Brock suddenly had a question.

"Hey, Flint?"

"Yeah?"

"You must be a trainer if you want to battle Ash, right? What's your history? Competed in any Leagues?"

Flint snuck a quick look over his shoulder. Noticing that Ash and Dawn were out of earshot, he grinned and said, "Actually, I'm a member of the Elite Four."

Brock stopped walking.

"… Are you serious?"

Flint laughed. "Yep."

"So you're like Aaron and Lucian then? How come you want to battle Ash?"

Flint winked. "Gotta make sure I know I've still got it."

Brock raised an eyebrow.

Flint laughed again and said, "Well, the real reason is I can see there's something in Ash that makes him a good trainer, and I want Volkner to see that and start battling again."

Brock nodded and they continued walking.

Volkner was bringing up the rear. He was watching Ash very closely, thinking of what Flint had said.

"_I still don't see why this kid is so special… He acts more confident, and he's certainly not afraid, but in battle? That doesn't mean anything…_ _Although Flint seems to want to battle him for some reason… I wonder what he sees…_"

He watched as Ash took several Poke Balls off of his belt and examined them, then tried to juggle them and dropped them all on his head and the ground. Dawn began to laugh, and he blushed, somewhat pleased he made Dawn laugh, but embarrassed nonetheless.

Volkner watched Ash for a few more minutes, trying to make up his mind.

"_Well, Flint's my friend, and I trust his judgment… Should I give it a shot? I mean, I don't have anything else to do… Might as well…"_

When they reached the front doors of the gym, Volkner walked straight up to them, unlocked them, then turned to face Flint, Ash, Dawn, and Brock, taking a deep breath.

Flint was smirking, knowing what was coming. Ash, Dawn and Brock just looked up at him questioningly.

He hesitated, taking a second to shoot a quick glare at Flint, then said, "Ash, I've decided that I will battle you."

Flint's smirk widened. Ash hesitated, looking at Flint for approval. When he nodded, Ash grinned and said, "That's great! Thanks Volkner!"

Brock raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a change of heart. What brought that on?"

Volkner hesitated again, then said quickly, "Oh, I just didn't want Ash to get flattened by Flint…"

Ash was too happy to have a chance to get his eighth badge to hear the comment and Brock shrugged, accepting this answer.

Volkner turned and walked into the gym, everyone's attention being drawn into it. He walked to the side of the gym and opened a small metal box, beginning to flick switches. On went the overheard lights, then a section of the wall slid away and a small robot carrying flags rolled in and moved to the referee's box. Volkner flicked a few more switches, and when Brock looked at Flint questioningly, he explained, "The gym is largely automatic, those will operate the robot referee and reinforces the walls to prevent the gym caving in from a really powerful attack."

Another robot rolled out to the sidelines of the field and Flint raised an eyebrow. "Now that's interesting. That's the robot that televises the gym matches for all of Sunyshore City to see. Volkner hasn't done that for awhile…"

As Ash walked onto the gym field, looking around the gym in awe, Brock and Flint climbed into the stands and picked out some seats around the middle of the field. Dawn excused herself and walked around the back of the stands, muttering flustered comments about "the bathroom" and "changing".

Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and examined the floor of the gym. Rather than being a wooden field, or having a floor that matched the type of the gym leader's Pokemon, the floor in the Sunyshore Gym was made of a synthetic material. Pikachu poked at it curiously, sending several small electric shocks at it, to see what would happen.

Volkner closed the switch box and walked over to the field and stood in the gym leader's box.

"Whenever you're ready Ash."

Ash grinned at Pikachu, who jumped back onto his shoulder, and he walked to the challenger's box on the other end of the field.

The robot suddenly flickered on and began to hover in midair, electrical sensors noticing that there was a trainer in each box, and it held both of its arms out, a flag in each.

A mechanical voice rang out from the robot. It sounded shaky at first, the voice of someone who had not spoken for awhile, then cleared up. "The Sunyshore gym battle between the gym leader Volkner and the challenger Ash is getting underway! Each side will be allowed to use three Pokemon, and the battle will be over when all three of one side's Pokemon are unable to battle!"

Ash grinned again. If he ever doubted it, it was moments like these that made him remember why he loved gym battles. There was a certain rush that he felt, a confidence, a joy to battling. And now he was battling an undefeated gym leader, with his eighth badge on the line.

He looked up towards the stands, and waved at Flint and Brock. Then his eyes scanned around the stands to find Dawn, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Something wrong?" Volkner's voice cut in.

"Oh. Oh, no."

He grabbed a Poke Ball from his belt and was about to throw it, when suddenly, he heard someone run into the stands above him, their feet clattering on the metal stands. He turned up again and looked up to see Dawn and Piplup run into the stands and sit down in the front row, near Brock and Flint.

She smiled over at Ash. "Sorry!" she called out, breathlessly, "Had to change!"

Ash opened his mouth, then closed it again, no words coming out. She pulled four pom-poms from her bag, and handed two to Piplup.

To say Ash was stunned would be an understatement. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that he hadn't seen her wear her cheerleading outfit in a long time, or that he thought she looked great wearing it, or that she was going to be cheering for him with it, he didn't know, but the fact remained that he was, in fact, shocked. His rapidly heating cheeks only accentuated this fact.

Pikachu looked at his trainer curiously, wondering what had distracted him, and followed the path of his gaze up into the stands directly onto Dawn. Dawn, also noticing Ash's stare, grew slightly self-conscious, but felt sort of proud of herself. Her cheeks reddened as well, but she covered this up by raising his hands in the air and calling out, "Good luck Ash!"

Pikachu shook his head at his trainer disapprovingly. There were times for this, and there were times where the task at hand was more important. He pulled at his trainer's cheek.

"Pikapi, Pika-Pika, Pikaka, Pika Pi Pika…"

Ash jumped and looked at his Pokemon sheepishly.

"Oh, sorry buddy. Got a little… distracted…"

He turned back towards the field, trying hard to resist the urge to look back over.

Volkner, noticing that Ash's attention was back on their battle, gave a small smile and snapped his fingers.

The robot referee droned, "Battle, start!"

Volkner grinned and said, "Alright Ash, let's go." He threw a Poke Ball into the air, releasing a light and dark blue cat-like Pokemon onto the field.

Dawn took out her Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon, identifying it as a Luxray. Volkner and his Luxray watched Ash, waiting for his move.

Ash thought for a second, then replaced the previously chosen Poke Ball on his belt and removed another one. Enlarging it, he threw it down onto the field.

"Grotle, I choose you!"

His large turtle-like Pokemon appeared from the Poke Ball's white light and called out confidently at Volkner's Luxray, who glared back.

"You can do it, Grotle, Ash!" Dawn yelled out. Ash's eyes twitched involuntarily back towards the stands.

Volkner waved his hand airly and said, "You have the first move."

Ash nodded and pointed at Luxray, saying, "Grotle, use Razor Leaf!"

Grotle leaned forwards on its two front legs, the bushes on either side of its back shaking slightly. Then, rearing back as if to throw something, Grotle flung its shoulders forward, the bushes on its back sending out dozens of rapidly-spinning, razor-sharp leaves.

Volkner watched the attack approach, then said, "Luxray, dodge it, then use Spark!"

Luxray jumped to the side barely in time, the leaves flying past it and slamming into the gym floor, leaving behind deep slashes. Then, turning sharply, Luxray charged electricity through its body, glowing blue and slammed head-on into Grotle.

Grotle was forced backwards slightly, but dug in with its back legs and headbutted Luxray, throwing it off of itself. Ash clenched his teeth. Grotle shook off the attack relatively well due to its typing, but it was still a powerful blow, and it was unlikely that Grotle could take too many of such hits.

"_Volkner's not undefeated for nothing…_ _I guess head-on attacks won't work here…_"

He heard Dawn yell out to him and felt briefly heartened, but then Volkner said, "Luxray, use Shock Wave!"

Luxray brought its tail up behind it and drew electricity from itself and surrounding area. Creating a blue ball of electric energy above its tail, it leaned forward and shot this towards Grotle.

Ash's eyes widened, and he called out the first thing that came to mind. "Grotle! Use Rock Climb!"

Grotle's front and hind leg claws glowed white and lengthened. Then Grotle reared all the way up onto its hind legs, then slammed its front legs into the ground, sending earth and rock flying out of the ground in front of it.

It was not a moment too soon. The Shock Wave slammed into the rapidly rising pillars of rock harmlessly and deflected into the wall behind Ash. The pillars of rock didn't stop at blocking the Shock Wave however, they continued on towards Luxray and slammed into it, sending it sliding across the gym floor.

Ash sighed with relief as Grotle retracted its claws and the rock pillars receded into the dirt.

"_That Shock Wave had some power… It was lucky that Grotle pulled that attack off in time… But there's no way I'll get that lucky again…_"

He looked across the field at Volkner, who did not appear to have noticed that the attack Grotle had pulled off was a hasty, lucky decision, and was worriedly asking his Pokemon if it was alright.

However, Brock, looking down on the field, could tell what had happened.

"Ash got very lucky," he remarked to Flint. "That could have turned out very badly."

"Huh?"

Brock laughed. "That was an attack called out of desperation that just happened to work. I can tell. He's got that look in his eyes."

Flint raised one eyebrow, turning back to look at the field. If that was what the kid and his Pokemon could do without thinking, maybe, he thought, the kid could possibly beat Volkner.

Luxray picked itself up very slowly, and began to shake its head dizzily. The rapid switch from being on the offensive to taking a heavy blow confused it, and it was still reeling.

Ash noticed this and went for the knockout hit. "Grotle, use Energy Ball!"

The bushes on Grotle's back glowed a bright white, then Grotle opened its mouth and began spinning energy into a ball in front of it. The ball grew slightly, blue and green ribbons of energy spiraling towards the center. Grotle continued putting energy into it until it grew to the size of its head, then it shot it at Luxray.

Luxray shook its head again, still trying to regain its balance. It looked out towards the field just long enough to notice the rapidly approaching Energy Ball.

Volkner yelled, "Luxray, jump and dodge it!"

Luxray tried to jump, but when it put weight onto its front legs, it stumbled, and the Energy Ball glanced off of its shoulders. The Energy Ball slammed into a wall and the full power of it was released into the wall, but Luxray still took damage from the attack.

As Volkner watched his Pokemon struggle back to its feet, he decided that he'd had enough and recalled his Pokemon back to its Poke Ball.

"Thank you," he said quietly, snapping the Poke Ball back to his belt. He was reluctantly impressed. Whether or not the kid had a strategy, he had inflicted enough damage on his Pokemon to necessitate a switch, which had not happened from a challenger in two years.

"You know, this is the first time I've ever seen Volkner backed into a corner like this," remarked Flint.

Brock laughed. "Well, unpredictability **is **Ash's style."

Volkner leaned down and removed another Poke Ball from his belt. Throwing it forwards, he said, "Go Electivire!"

The Electivire materialized and stared haughtily at Ash and Grotle. Then, as it toed the ground, it noticed that it was back on the gym field and seemed confused. It looked back towards Volkner questioningly, but he merely nodded. It turned back around and assumed a battle stance.

Ash took the initiative again. "Grotle, use Razor Leaf!"

Grotle leaned to the side, then thrust its shoulders forward in alternating motions. The bushes on its back moved with its shoulder movements and clumps of razor-edged leaves flew out of the bushes. Grotle alternated, swinging from side to side, and sent leaves from the left, then the right bushes on its back, repeating the process.

As the leaves sailed in clumps towards Electivire, Volkner said, "Deflect it with Fire Punch!"

Electivire pulled its right arm back and punched at the first clump of leaves. As its fist drew forwards, it began to glow red and flame and it swung its arm from side to side, knocking out each clump of leaves as they approached, creating a small pile of ashes on the floor.

Noticing that alternating wasn't working, Grotle leaned forwards and used both bushes at once, sending leaves at both sides of Electivire. However, Electivire drew its other fist back and dealt with the new threat, using one fist for each set of leaves. Grotle's eyes widened and it stopped the attack, backing up slightly.

Ash flinched. "_That's some power!_"

Dawn was surprised too. "Wow, that's certainly a creative way to use that move."

Flint chuckled. "Volkner's on his game now… I think he underestimated Ash at the beginning."

Volkner smiled contentedly. This kid had given him quite a scare, but he had the battle now. Then he did a double-take.

"_I wonder if I'm enjoying battling again…_"

He shook his head and turned back to the battle. On the other side of the field, Ash was thinking fast. "_We can't power past this Pokemon either. So we have to outthink them somehow… Now what could we do?_"

Dawn turned her attention to Ash, and noticing that he seemed stressed out, yelled, "Ash, Grotle! You can do it!"

Ash smiled at her gratefully for a brief second, then suddenly had a flashback to Dawn's Contest.

_He was looking down from the stands on the last seconds of the Contest. Although Dawn had regained her composure, Ursula was still leading in points. Dawn called for a Flame-Ice, and her Pokemon began to put it into action. Mamoswine surrounded Cyndaquil with an Ice Shard, then Cyndaquil dove from the sky at the confused Plusle and Minun below with the Flame Wheel-Ice Shard combination._

_The attack knocked both of Ursula's Pokemon backwards, but as they attempted to string together a counterattack, Cyndaquil and Mamoswine attacked again, and hit them before they could dodge or block the attack._

"That's it!" He grinned confidently. "Grotle, use Razor Leaf again!"

Grotle leaned down again, sending another set of spinning bundles of sharp leaves at Electivire.

Volkner shrugged. It was the same attack as before. "Electivire! Use Fire Punch!"

Electivire's fists glowed red and burst into flames as it effortlessly knocked aside the Razor Leaves just like before.

Grotle continued sending leaves at Electivire, but just as it leaned back to send another clump flying, Ash said, "Now, use Energy Ball!"

Grotle stopped mid-motion and opened its mouth, quickly drawing energy from itself, creating and sending a green ball of energy at Electivire.

Electivire, expecting another Razor Leaf, reacted too late to block the lower-aimed Energy Ball and was hit in the stomach.

As it doubled-over, Ash grinned at Grotle and said, "Nice work. Now let's finish this, use Rock Climb!"

Once more, Grotle's claws glowed white and lengthened. Then it reared up onto its hind legs and slammed its front claws into the gym floor, causing huge pillars of rock to rise out of the ground. A pillar knocked Electivire off balance, and another one lifted it into the air.

As it put out its arms to try to regain its balance, Grotle leapt off the ground, jumping from pillar to pillar, heading straight for Electivire.

Ash pumped his fists, and Dawn called out, "Go for it Grotle!"

Volkner, thinking fast, suddenly smirked. "Electivire, wait for it to come up, then use Ice Punch!"

Grotle, reaching a pillar just below the level of Electivire, jumped off of it tilting its front shoulder down and bracing for impact. Electivire waited for it to approach, and at the last possible second, drew its left fist back and shot it out towards Grotle, spinning it as it drew forward. As it spun, it collected ice and ice crystals and glowed a bright bluish white.

Grotle and Electivire's fist collided, sending sparks, bits of rock and ice shards flying out from around them.

Although Grotle had the momentum, Electivire was punching from above, and had gravity on its side, so eventually Electivire gained the upper hand and knocked Grotle down onto the ground.

Grotle hit the ground hard, but picked itself up quickly, shaking its head.

Slowly, the rock pillars began to sink back into the ground, and Volkner noticed this and said, "Electivire, use Fire Punch!"

Electivire jumped off of the rock pillar and descended towards Grotle, both of its fists glowed red and flaming as it approached.

Ash, thinking fast, said, "Grotle! Above you! Use Energy Ball!"

Grotle lifted its head up and created another green ball of energy, but Electivire's fists came straight down onto it, the first fist colliding with the Energy Ball, enveloping Grotle and Electivire in a cloud of smoke. Electivire's other fist slammed straight onto the top of Grotle's head, knocking it into the ground.

"No! Grotle!" Ash yelled out.

When the smoke cleared, Electivire was standing in a fighting stance, looking at a prone Grotle.

"Come on Grotle!" yelled Ash, "Get up! I know you can!"

As Grotle struggled to pull itself to its feet, Brock remarked to Flint, "That was a pretty amazing comeback. Volkner turned that situation right around!"

Flint chuckled. "Yep. That's Volkner for you. You gotta remember that he's being challenged though. Ash hasn't switched yet, and two of Volkner's Pokemon have taken damage."

Grotle slowly climbed back to its feet. Although its knees were shaking violently, it was keeping itself up by sheer willpower. It smirked confidently at Volkner and his Electivire, both of whom seemed shocked that it was able to continue. Letting out a defiant cry, it twitched slightly, then pitched forward onto the ground, swirls in its eyes.

"Grotle is unable to battle, Electivire is the winner!"

Volkner nodded contentedly. Although he had taken down Ash's first Pokemon, he was quickly growing impressed. His Pokemon had forced itself back to its feet by sheer willpower and want alone, and that was a mark of a strong trainer with a strong bond with their Pokemon. However, he assured himself, he was still going to do away with this kid like the rest of his challengers.

Ash winced and pulled out a Poke Ball, recalling Grotle back to it.

"Thank you Grotle," he said, holding it out in front of him, "You did your best."

Replacing it on his belt, he stared out onto the battlefield blankly.

"_Volkner is really strong…_"

* * *

**Alrighty! So the first part of the Ash v Volkner battle is complete. I'm still debating several things, like whether or not to have Ash win, or how exactly I should write the battle. Except for minor things and the general outline, the battle sequences in this chapter are all my own writing, so please tell me how I did with that. It's the first real battle sequence I've ever written. :D (The Contest one doesn't count, it was completely based off of the episodes...) Although the subsequent parts of this battle will be much more based off of the anime, I doubt I will make it exactly like the anime did, because the episode hasn't aired in English and I don't want to spoil it for anyone. :D. (Although at the pace I'm going, it might be out by next chapter... D:)**

**As always, please take the time to write a review, and tell me what I'm doing right, and what I need to improve on, it's very helpful!**

**A shout out to FS for helping me with this chapter. Even if I had no idea what I needed help with, encouragement is nice too. xD.  
**

**Cheers! :)  
**


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